


'Cause I'm Only a Crack (In This Castle of Glass)

by Baccatapages



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass!Reader, Can summon spirits and spirit animals, Canon until Winter Soldier, Clairevoyant a bit?, Don't worry, F/M, Goddammit, Hacker!Reader, I really like Jean grey okay, Jam, Motherhen!Reader, Phil did not deserve to die, Pietro Lives, Pregnancy, Psychic reader kind of, Temporary Death, There are too many gifs in this, Underappreciated!Reader, You beat him up, You put up with a lot of shit, but you have telekinesis etc too, finding nemo - Freeform, photographer!reader, some homophobic language, telepathic reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-03-07 07:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13429626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baccatapages/pseuds/Baccatapages
Summary: The Avengers are so oblivious that it takes ten months of your absence and death for them to realise how much they appreciate you. This is your story.





	1. Galore of Bubbles and Damned Plums

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Marvel, I wish I did, but I don't.

'Hi Thor.' You said, walking into the kitchen from your room.

'Hello, Lady y/n.' Thor greeted with a bucket of a mug in his hand, coffee slightly splashing over the sides. 'I trust you slept well?'

'Very.' You smiled and put some crumpets into the toaster. You did miss England, but the Avengers needed you more in America. So, the most you could do was push away the homesickness and try to remember everything bad about England; rain, braces, when you were nearly drowned after being trapped by the London Eye, the weather in general, politics, people not thanking you for holding the door open. That sort of thing. 'I had a dream, though.' You said, turning to lean against the counter to face where Thor sat. 'You were there.'

'Ah. In Asgard, it is said that the seers are among the wisest of us. With the exception of the Allfather.' Thor said. He took a big gulp of coffee, satisfied. 'What was this dream about?'

'Well, you were basically trying to sing Disney Karaoke while an incredibly inebriated Tony Stark attempted to give a very sober Steve a lap dance.' You sighed and Thor barked a laugh.

'I am a very good singer. The best in Asgard.' You raised an eyebrow. You neglected to mention that in your dream, Thor's singing could cause an avalanche. 

'Oh yeah? Who told you that?' 

'Loki, of course.' Thor shrugged, unable to see anything wrong with that sentence all. 

'Uh, Thor?' You tilted your head as a sign that he should re-evaluate what he just said in more detail. They were getting to your British mannerisms, it seemed. 

'What?' The thunder-god said innocently, pouting like a puppy. Sudden realisation dawned on his face. 'Oh, Allfather!' He gasped.

'Yes, almighty god of thunder?' You sighed.

'I have forgotten to pick up my dry cleaning from the Galore of Bubbles!' Thor exclaimed. 

Then again, maybe not.

'Bubbles Galore.' You corrected wearily and turned back to the toaster where your crumpets popped up a lovely golden brown. You started spreading butter on one as you heard Thor stand up and start to chug his coffee. All those drinking contests paid off, apparently. 

'I will be late.' Thor panicked. 'Fury will have my hide and turn it into a rug!' 

'Thor, sweetie, calm down.' You soothed. 'I can get it for you. I'm passing there anyway.' 

'Oh, y/n, you wonderful beacon of light among the darkness on this day!' Thor said passionately, causing you to go slightly pink. 'I must go to training, Lady y/n. Thank the stars you are so righteous in your ways!' The sneaky bastard then swiped your buttered crumpet and ate half of it in one bite. Then he left. 

You scowled after him and pulled out the second crumpet, still steadily heated by the toaster. Determined not to let anyone else steal the first food you'd had after a long mission in Alaska, you grabbed the black and yellow jar and spread liberal amounts of marmite over the butter just as someone else entered the kitchen. 

'Morning y/n.' Steve yawned, scratching his head lazily. 'Something smells good. What you makin'?' He leaned over your shoulder. 

'English crumpets.' You said, ignoring his breath on your neck. The super soldier hummed interestedly. 'With marmite.' Steve recoiled and gagged. You chuckled, very aware that Steve hated marmite with a passion.

'Why would you eat that monstrosity?' Steve mumbled, stumbling over to the coffee machine. 

You pointedly ignored him. You had had this conversation with almost every avenger and it was getting tiresome. Except for Clint, who apparently liked marmite. Still, you had yet to introduce Thor to marmite. 'How did you sleep?' You asked.

'Meh. It could've been better.' Steve shrugged. 'You?'

'Hmm, well it was interesting. Thor was singing Disney's 'I won't say i'm in love'.' You chuckled and Steve crackled a smile.  

Captain America never seemed to smile anymore and you just wished you knew why. 

'That does sound interesting. What else happened?' He asked.

'Nah, it's nothing.' You shrugged, sitting down at the table.

'Oh come on. Now you have to tell me. I promise I won't laugh.' 

'Ok, fine.' You sighed as he took a swig of coffee. 'You were being given a lap dance by a very intoxicated Tony.' Coffee sprayed all over the table, ruining your tea and crumpet. It was worth it though, because Steve was rolling about with laughter and clutching his heart.

'I was doing what?' Tony asked from the doorway making Steve laugh even harder. 'How drunk was I to do that?'

'Not as drunk as I was when I said yes!' Steve laughed, shoulders steadily losing their tension. 

'You know it was just a dream.' You rolled your eyes.

'That doesn't make it any less funny.' Steve shook his head fondly. 'I wish I could've been there.'

'Despite your sobriety, you did find it rather pleasant.' You remarked, Steve going slightly pink as you started to clear away your ruined breakfast. You made it your mini mission of the morning to make a new cup of tea and actually get some nutrition when Natasha stumbled in. She had a bruise forming over the left side of her face and she looked like hell. 

'Hey. Is that a drink?' The Russian ex-assassin grabbed the mug from your hand and chugged it down at a pace worthy of Thor. 

'Do you feel better?' You asked, gently taking the mug from her.

'No.' Natasha said after a big breath. 'But thanks anyway.' She then stumbled back to her room and the three of you watched concernedly as she walked out of sight.

'She overworks herself.' Tony sighed.

'We don't really tell her we appreciate her enough, do we?' Steve remarked as you cleared away his empty mug like a bloody waitress. 'Her birthday's coming up. Why don't we throw her a party or something?'

Wow, okay.

'That's actually not a bad idea.' Tony nodded as Clint walked in, not entirely there. 'Hey Legolas, we're throwing a party for Nat. Don't tell her, okay?' The archer merely nodded as he crossed to the toaster and pulled out the last of your crumpets and started decorating them with butter and fucking marmite. 

'I'll go tell Bruce.' Steve said and left. Clint took your original place, even though it was still covered in coffee. Tony sat where Steve was, leaving you standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. 

'Hey, y/n, while you're up, could you clean this up?' Clint asked, munching on a crumpet. 

You did as he asked, sighing. 'I should go. Bubbles Galore is open already.' 

Your friends stared after your forlorn form, brushing off your mood as nothing. 

 

You carried your camera everywhere  with you. 

It was your pride and joy. Tony had given it to you after he saw the old nokia camera you were carrying with you, claiming you needed to come out from the rock you had been living under. It was simple yet effective, completely waterproof and weather resistant. You'd taken some stunning nature photos with both the nokia and new camera and you hadn't gathered up the courage to show anyone yet. Steve asked once, but you had declined. The only person among the Avengers family that you had shown was Pepper Potts, your best friend from university. Granted, she hadn't seen any recent ones, only ones from when you were just starting out and wanted some form of normality.

Photography was actually the reason you had been introduced to the Avengers. It had been during the Battle of New York and by chance, had managed to catch a snapshot of all the avengers fighting against the aliens. Then, of course, you ran like every other sensible person. You hated to use your powers unless they were needed. Plus, the avengers seemed to have it under control. 

Anyway, you had shown the picture to Pepper who wanted to use it as the Avengers main picture, which was eventually turned into some dramatic picture.

Pepper had offered a lot of money which you accepted rather hesitantly. You thought that would've been it, but a few months after Pepper used it, you woke up to the avengers staring at you.

You had screamed from shock. Who wouldn't? And your powers acted out by accident. They had all been attacked by an incorporeal jaguar which was trying to protect you. It was only after you had calmed down did you manage to get the jaguar to leave the avengers alone. 

You carried your camera around everywhere with you because you had no idea what you wonderful things you may see on a simple walk to do Thor's errands. For example, you passed a fountain that had a fine spray being released from the hoses and you held up your camera to take a snapshot. As you examined it, you saw a starling had flown through at that exact moment. 

You carried on to the dry cleaners and picked up a tea on the way, considering every attempt to make one had failed. Once inside, you approached the desk and asked for Thor Odinson's clothes. Then you realised you hadn't been given any money to pay for it. Cursing Thor, you hauled the clothes back to the Avengers tower, your pockets that much lighter, with a dark cloud following you home. Literally. It started to rain.

You dumped Thor's clothes on a table, shaking water from your hair. 'Dammit, Thor.' You growled, bad temper flaring. You wanted to punch something. Someone. Instead, you pulled out your phone as Fury's name appeared on the screen. 

'Fury, to what do I owe the pleasure?' You asked.

'There's a mission in France that requires you to go undercover. Unfortunately, Natasha's still recovering and the others can't speak French. Think you can do it?' Fury asked. You pinched the bridge of your nose.

'Yeah. Just send the coordinates and i'll be there.' You sighed, stumbling to your room and face planting the bed. A few minutes later, the coordinates were sent to your phone and you sat up. 'FRIDAY?' You called out.

'Yes, y/n?' 

'If the others ask, if anyone asks, tell them i've gone on a long overdue holiday. Don't tell them where i've gone.' You said. You weren't planning on coming back. You started piling clothes into a duffle bag. 

'Yes, y/n.' 

'If you do, i'll infect you with a virus that'll have Tony having a coronary embolism.' You warned and left your room.

You hoped not to be caught, but Banner came across you looking frantic. 'Y/n! There you are! I need a woman's opinion!'

'Look, Bruce, now isn't the best time. Can't it wait until later?' You asked, very aware of the time.

'Oh, ok. Good luck with training.' Bruce said and wandered off as you made your way to where Fury was waiting for you. 

 

Thor knocked on your door. 'Lady y/n? I must ask your opinion on something.' When you didn't answer, he shrugged and went to find Tony. 

'What's up Lightning Rod?' Tony asked without looking up from his work.

'Have you seen Lady y/n anywhere?' Thor asked.

'Nope. FRIDAY, have you seen y/n anywhere?' Tony asked.

'Y/n has left.' FRIDAY said.

'Left? Left to where?' Tony demanded.

'There is a spanner to your left, sir.' FRIDAY replied. 

'No! I mean where has she left to go to?' Tony growled.

'Who has left, sir?' FRIDAY asked.

'Y/N!' Tony shouted in frustration. 

'Y/n is an enhanced human from birth with the ability to summon a guardian. She surpasses Steve Rogers in strength and Natasha Romanoff in stealth, skill, speed and intelligence. She manipulates organic and inorganic matter to her will through electrical brain impulses. She weighs approximately 125 pounds, stands at 1.6 meters, has a waist circumference of 25 inches and a body mass index of 22.1.' FRIDAY recited and the vein in Tony's forehead started to bulge. 

'FRIDAY, I need to know where y/n is.' Tony said through gritted teeth. 

'I cannot answer that sir. Y/n has specifically asked for me to not divulge any information to you.' FRIDAY said.

Tony hesitated. 'She threatened you with a virus, didn't she?'

'That is correct, sir.' Tony rolled his eyes. 

 

You enjoyed your solitude. You could understand why Fury chose you for the mission, after all. You were the only one with telekinesis that didn't require you to be at short distance, much like Wanda. You felt a pang of guilt. You and Wanda had been friends almost immediately, the Sokovian liked to speak in her own language from time to time. But she had been caught up with Vision for a while, currently on their own 'mission' in the Caribbean. 

After the mission, you asked Fury to make you disappear and he obliged. He took you to the mountains where a beautiful cabin was already waiting for you. You missed the avengers, yes, but they never really appreciated you. You hated that you had been so blind to it all.

 

 

 

It was two years since you had left England, ten months since you left the avengers with your camera and your heart in tact. You cut off most electrical devices, your camera and emergency phone being the only ones left in your possession. 

Sometimes you got a newspaper from the town but that was when you were prepared to trek through ten miles of woods. On a Friday, when the market was in town, you often went there for some fresh food. In your bag, you had some carrots, honey, peaches and potatoes. You were just reaching for the plums at a nearby stall when your hand bumped with another. 

'Je suis désolé, vous allez. C'est bon, je n'ai pas besoin de cette prune particulière.' You said and moved to a different one.

'Ici.' The man held out the plum you were going for. 'Une charmante femme comme vous mérite un fruit si parfait.' You looked more closely at him, slightly flustered. He had brown hair pulled back and very blue eyes. 

'L'un d'entre vous peut-il payer pour le fruit maudit?' The stall-holder asked grumpily. 

 

You and the stranger walked away, both munching on plums. 'Are you passing through?' You asked, hoping he knew English. 

'Yeah. I'm travelling.' He said. 

'Hi travelling, i'm y/n.' You grinned and he blinked at you before cracking a smile. 'You never heard that one before?'

'Not really. I've kind of lived under a rock for the past few years.' He shrugged. 'I'm James.'

'Well, you already know my name.' You said. 'I'm going to get a newspaper from over there.' You nodded to the stand by the old well.

'I'll get us some drinks.' James said and wandered off. 

You paid for your newspaper and put it in your bag, opting to read it later. You saw James sitting on a low wall, facing away from the market. He gave a small smile as you sat down next to him and handed you a tea. 'You got my favourite.' You noted happily. James blushed.

'It was just a guess.' 

'Well it was a very good one.' You smiled. 

You and James chatted for a while about nothing and everything. You had a strong suspicion that he was homeless, from America and on the run. But you weren't one to pry. He listened to everything you said and your stories. He was even impressed when you showed him a few recent photos you had taken of nature nearby. He blushed when he saw one that you had taken quietly of him being followed by a mini swarm of ducklings and it was just adorable. 

Dreading the ten mile walk you had back to the cabin, you reluctantly told James that you had to leave before nightfall. 

'Whereabouts do you live?' James asked, concerned.

'Just in the woods. It's a bit of a trek, though.' You shrugged. 

'I can come with you, for safety.' James said.

'That's sweet of you.' You said, slightly wary. 'But I can take care of myself. I'm a big tough girl.' You turned to leave, but turned back. 'It was nice meeting you, James. IF you're ever passing through again on a market day?' You said, sad at the parting. You gave a wave and a sad smile then left. 

What you didn't see was the Hydra agents loitering around the stalls, but James did. 

 

Something awoke you. 

You glanced blearily at your clock and saw it was blinking, which meant the power was out. 

Sighing, you sat up and pulled on your dressing gown and went to the door of your bedroom. You moved silently through the house and to the fuse box. 

Someone tackled you and you both went tumbling. You squinted up at him and saw James looking determined. He placed a firm hand over your mouth and you bit him-

Only to realise his hand was metal.

'There are Hydra agents surrounding the house.' James said quietly. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

'How did Hydra find me?' You asked.

James hesitated. 'They weren't looking for you. They were looking for me. But you were an avenger, weren't you? So they want you too.' 

You cursed. 

 

The Hydra agents were like the sea on a beach.

It never seemed to end and they were slowly working away at you and James' strength, who, apparently, was the Winter Soldier and preferred to be called Bucky. Just as you heard a very familiar roar, the rumble of thunder and the quinjet, you were overpowered by five hydra agents at once and you fell through the window with them following.

Bucky pulled all of them off you, beating most of them to a pulp. He blocked bullets with his hand and was desperate to get you to safety. 

The window was smashed in as the red-haired ex-assassin crashed through and took out two Hydra agents. The Hulk was outside, smashing through the Hydra agents outside that had been originally been occupied with the incorporeal animals that you had been calling forth from the Spirit world to help. 

Thor smashed through a line of Hydra with his hammer, blasting them with lightning. Tony blasted them with his suit and Hydra agents started falling out of no particular cause, but Bucky suspected it was Clint. Something too fast to see knocked down some Hydra like dominoes before moving on to another group of Hydra fighting a woman with brown hair and red energy. 

Steve Rogers, Bucky's childhood friend, helped Bucky. They broke through the Hydra's ranks.

It didn't completely register to Bucky that the fight was over until he heard a hitched sob. 

Thor was knelt next to your broken body. The avengers started to move around your body, shaken from your death. Despite the storm clouds, it began to snow heavily. 

'Don't leave me, buddy.' Tony said quietly, stepping out of his suit to kneel by you. His bravado prevented him from crying, despite the fact that he was dying inside. 

Steve felt like his heart had been broken into two and you had taken the other half with you. They had spent so long looking and it was unbearable not knowing. When Fury had said Hydra were attacking a civilian, they had gone. Not expecting the civilian to be you.

Wanda wailed and blasted any remaining Hydra off their feet, killing them immediately. You and her had always been close.

Pietro had always thought that you would last forever. You were so kind, so nurturing. He didn't believe that any decent higher power would let you die, and yet, there you were.

Who was always so patient with both Bruce Banner and Hulk? You were. Along with Natasha, you were the only ones that could perform the lullaby. And even then, you were always more effective.

 

Ever since you were young, you had been in touch with the Spirit world. You even drew ghosts to you which became rather annoying when you were trying to sleep, but eventually you learned to help spirits move on. Those that you did help, you were able to call back to help. The animals you were able to summon just came with the package deal. You were able to summon any and all. You had tried a dinosaur once, just so see how it went. But the pterodactyl started going crazy so you sent it back to where it came from. 

It was quite amazing to watch you help a spirit move on or call a spirit forth for help. There was always this light that was so gentle on anything it touched, brushing away all darkness. 

But it was a very private display, and only Steve and Thor had seen it be done. All the other avengers gasped as a blue light radiated from mid-air. 

The figure seemed to fade in and out of solid form, blue light radiating from it. It walked forward and the avengers parted for it. 'Who are you?' Natasha asked.

The figure finally took the form it had in life and Phil Coulson smiled at them. 'She helped me cross over.' He said, staring down at your body. 'She even listened to me rant about you, Mr Rogers.' He said to Steve. 'It's not her time yet. And it won't be for a very long time.'

Phil smiled gently. 'I'm so sorry.' Steve said, sniffling slightly.

'At least I got in a good hit before I went.' Phil said. He knelt and took your hand gently. 'You never seemed to appreciate her. Did you know that?'

'We loved her.' Clint said, eyes red and puffy.

'She felt that you didn't. You used her. You forgot about her. Brushed her aside.' Phil said. 'But i'm going to give you a chance to fix all of that. Treat her like the badass queen she is.'

The colour began to return to your cheeks and your twisted limbs started to straighten out. Once you looked like you were merely sleeping, Phil stood and regarded the Avengers. 'Goodbye, avengers. Maybe we'll see each other again. It was a privilege to know you.'

 

You woke up feeling tired and achy. 

And hungry. God you were starving. You padded from your room to the kitchen and stopped dead when you saw the avengers and Nick Fury having tea in your kitchen. Bucky was talking quietly to Steve, the delicate teacup held in his metal hand. 

'I missed something, didn't I?' You asked and all eyes snapped to you. 

You'd never partaken in a puppy pile before, but having Clint, Natasha, Tony, Steve, Bucky, Thor, Pietro and Wanda all try and hug you at once, you sort of collapsed into a puppy pile. 'I'll take that as a yes.' You groaned, trying to sit up.

'Y/n, will you come back? We were so worried about you! We missed you so much!' Wanda said. 

Everyone looked at you expectantly. Your eyes drifted to Bucky. 'On the condition that Bucky be allowed to come too.' 

'Deal! You can have your own island! I don't care! Just come back!' Tony said, hugging you tightly. 

'Does the offer on the island still stand?' You asked and Tony nodded enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Je suis désolé, vous allez. C'est bon, je n'ai pas besoin de cette prune particulière - I'm sorry, you go. It's alright, I don't need that particular plum  
> Ici. Une charmante femme comme vous mérite un fruit si parfait - Here. A lovely lady like you deserves such a perfect fruit  
> L'un d'entre vous peut-il payer pour le fruit maudit? - Can one of you pay for the damned fruit?


	2. How It Came To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did you become an Avenger? Find out and don't worry, you live.

Normally, you were a deep sleeper.

  
You were snuggled up in bed, head throbbing faintly after your strenuous night previously when you had been at your cousin’s bachelorette party and you’d gone to a pub only to be hit on by a sleezy guy and his friend who didn’t know the meaning of ‘no’. In the end, after much refusal, you’d gone to return to your family when they grabbed you. You responded by grabbing one, taking down two birds with one stone.

‘You should learn personal space. And the meaning of no.’ You said coolly.

  
The men looked to the barman, Andy, for help but he found none. Andy had been a school friend of yours, and had seen everything that went down between you and the man, so of course he had turned a blind eye. The man stormed off and you stared after him, disinterested.

  
Just then, your cousin called for shots and you grimaced at the thought of all that alcohol waiting to sit in your system until noon three days after.

  
‘Do you have any mead, good sir?’ A handsome man with shoulder-length blonde hair. Andy started slightly, considering not many people asked for mead, and reached under the counter for a bottle. Mr. Handsome slapped down a few pounds and took the whole bottle. He turned to you. ‘Forgive me for saying this, dear lady, but you don’t seem to be the type of person to come to this sort of place.’ Andy snorted but hid it with a cloth as he poured a drink for one of the farmers further down the bar.

  
You looked down at your white blouse, forest green jacket that fell mid-calf on you and black skinny jeans. True, your cousin chose a nostalgic place, but you’d just come from work with no chance to change. ‘I’ve just come from work. I’m here for my cousin’s bachelorette party.’ You said, nodding to the platinum-blonde haired woman dancing with her friends, shot in hand.

  
‘You don’t look much alike.’ The man commended, sipping the mead.

  
You raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m adopted. That’s probably why.’

  
‘My brother was adopted.’ The man said sadly. ‘But he’s gone now.’

  
‘I’m sorry for your loss.’ You said, feeling his sadness. ‘Were you close?’

  
He sighed. ‘I thought we were. But in the end, he told me how much he resented me.’

  
You stood in companionable silence for a while, before trying to lighten the mood. ‘I was raised in a small house by a lake. Wild grass as far as the eye could see, and mountains even further than that. In Winter, you can just feel the wind cut through you and you think it’s going to blow you away. And when it snows, it sticks to everything like the devil. But in summer, there are flowers in every shape and size, a variety of colours. And the wild berries would ripen almost every hour, so you always had enough with some to spare.’ You said wistfully.

  
‘It sounds beautiful.’ He said. ‘There’s not much where I’m from except for some grass and a goat, perhaps. But we haven’t seen him for a while.’

  
You laughed.

  
‘I’m Thor-‘ He choked slightly, eyes widening. ‘-in. Thorin.’

  
‘Thorin?’ You questioned. ‘Like Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, Thorn? Were your parents fans?’

  
‘Oh, no. I just like to call myself that.’ Thorin laughed nervously. ‘I adore the… the plays.’

  
You smiled. This man was definitely lying, but you decided to play along anyway. ‘Did you like the part where Batman saves everyone by blowing up the orcs with a bomb?’ You could see a small bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

  
‘Of course. I cheered at that scene.’ Thorin said, gulping down the mead hastily.

  
‘What about the part where Bilbo Baggins left the company by eloping with the Elven Queen, Gilda? That was romantic, you must admit.’ You pressed, looking at Thorin expectantly.

  
‘Very. I cried, actually. It was a very emotional part for me.’ Thorin finished the bottle and placed it on the bar.

  
‘Thorin, it was nice meeting you. I should get back to my cousin before she does something we all regret.’ You walked away and didn’t look back, but you could hear his thoughts that were uncomfortably loud.

 

He thought you had actually believed him. You merely rolled your eyes and told yourself to have fun.

  
A few hours later, he approached you again looking confident. ‘May I have your number?’ Thorin asked.

  
‘Only if I can have yours.’ You said, holding out your hand for his phone. You exchanged mobiles and you quietly placed a virus on there that would allow you to access whatever mainframe he used.

 

  
You sat up and wondered what woke you.

  
It turned out to be an alert from your computer, claiming that Thorin’s phone had just been plugged in. You stood and drew the curtains before setting your weapon in place.

 

It was a spare virus you carried around, just in case. But the previous night, you altered it and its effects. On it was the order to replace all files with clips from the Hobbit, mainly ones of Thorin Oakenshield. You peered at the screen and saw that the firewall seemed to come from hell itself. Luckily, you managed to find a weakness and broke in that way before setting your virus up.

‘Sir, there is a problem that requires your attention.’ JARVIS said while Tony, Steve and Natasha were eating breakfast. ‘The firewall has been broken through and a virus leaked into the system. All files have been replaced by film clips.’

  
Tony swore loudly.

  
‘Language.’ Steve chided tiredly.

  
‘Start the back-ups.’ Tony ordered.

  
‘Those have been compromised too, sir.’ JARVIS said. ‘I was able to track the origins of the virus and it appears to have emanated from Thor’s phone.’

  
Every pair of eyes, even JARVIS’ invisible ones, were on Thor who just stumbled in. ‘What did I do?’

  
‘Let a virus into our system!’ Tony shouted.

  
‘I did nothing of the kind.’ Thor protested.

  
‘JARVIS, run a scan of Thor’s phone for anything suspicious.’ Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Natasha was hiding a smirk, which caused Tony’s temper to flare. ‘What?’

  
‘I’ve just never thought someone would be able to hack JARVIS.’ The ex-assassin said.

  
‘I am not perfect, miss Romanoff.’ JARVIS reminded. ‘Scanning complete, sir. There is a contact under the name of ‘Thorin my arse’.’

  
Thor’s eyes widened. ‘The woman you asked me to track! It was her!’

  
‘Dammit, Thor.’ Tony sighed.

  
‘She described where she lived. She claimed there was wild grass and berries with flowers and mountains and near a lake.’ Thor said. ‘I’m sure I can find her again.’

 

 

It was a few months after Pepper had asked to borrow the photo you’d taken as a one-off. A month since you’d sent the virus. It was in the news that Tony Stark’s empire was crashing, so you decided to send an anti-virus through in the shape of a poop emoji, just because you could.

  
When you’d told Pepper what you’d done, she high-fived you. Pepper was always trying to find ways to get Tony’s ass into gear and the virus seemed to do it.

  
You were picking wild strawberries and gooseberries, as it was that time of year when the plants were producing offspring like Catholic bunnies. Your senses were telling you something was off, so you sent a spirit starling to go see what the problem was.

  
When it returned, you saw a spirit was following, evidently lost. You put down your basket gently and approached the spirit, dismissing the starling. ‘Hello.’ You said. ‘I’m y/n.’

  
The spirit blinked and took form. A man in a suit, in law enforcement perhaps. ‘Phil. Phil Coulson. Where am I?’

  
‘England.’ You said. ‘Do you know what happened to you?’

  
‘I…’ He faltered. ‘I was with the Avengers.’

  
‘And you know that you’re dead.’

 

  
He blinked.

‘I remember dying.’

  
‘You need to move on.’ You said gently. ‘Will you let me help you?’

  
‘Why should I trust you?’

  
‘Because if you stay too long on this plane, you’ll forget who you truly are and become violent, in some cases.’ You held out a hand. ‘You won’t feel any pain.’

  
‘Really?’

  
‘It’s quicker than falling asleep.’ You promised.

  
He stared at you. ‘I have insomnia.’

  
You huffed. Figures.

  
‘It’s quick and painless.’ You said.

  
After much encouragement, he took your hand. His blue aura began to shine and his form started to flicker. Phil smiled once more from relief, before vanishing completely.

  
You sighed and went back to your basket which was rather heavy with berries. Jam time, you thought and walked back over to your small family house. It was nestled between two rose bushes in full bloom and made for a beautiful sight.

  
After packing away the multiple jam jars filled to the brim, you cleared up while listening to the radio. Humming along to ‘Oh My Love’, you searched around for your book and settled down into your favourite armchair that you would snuggle with your dad on.

 

 

Your psychic senses flared when you sensed people and your eyes opened to see some very pissed-off looking people staring down at you. One had a menacing sceptre in hand, the other pointing a bow and arrow at you. You recognised Iron Man aka Tony Stark glaring at you. And then there was ‘Thorin’, glaring at you.

  
Naturally, you screamed and a spirit jaguar leapt from nowhere and attacked them. You stopped the arrow in mid-air as the archer released it in surprise. You sprang to your feet and whacked the archer around the head with your book and he was dazed slightly.

  
You pinned Thorin with a spot of bother before you saw Iron Man ready to shoot at you. Spotting the hammer, you grabbed it and threw it at Iron Man who was not expecting it and was thrown off his feet. Using telekinesis, you had the red-haired woman pinned against the wall and she was yelling at you.

  
‘RELEASE ME, MORTAL!’ Thorin demanded, struggling.

  
‘Ok, you’re getting annoying.’ You grumbled and opened a portal and pushed Thor through. His hammer followed before the opening closed.

  
Honestly, you should’ve guessed there was one avenger missing.

  
Captain America grabbed you from behind and you wriggled. ‘Never thought Captain America would have a gun in his pocket.’ You commented before kicking the Captain’s shins and throwing him bodily into the archer who was just rising to his feet after fending off the spirit jaguar.

  
Then you made everyone freeze with telekinesis, holding them in place. ‘What the bloody hell do you want from me?’ You demanded, eyes glowing a bright blue instead of your usual e/c.

  
‘You sent us a virus!’ Stark said angrily.

  
‘I fixed it!’ You protested.

  
‘In the form of a poop emoji.’ Natasha said. ‘Seriously?’

  
‘That doesn’t give you the right to attack me in my own goddamn home!’ You growled.

  
‘You lifted my hammer.’ Thorin thundered from outside. Huh, seemed he was back already. ‘And yet you have done wrong.’

  
‘Wrong?’ You scowled. ‘It was to keep you off my tail! No one got hurt!’

  
‘It hurt my pride.’ Stark shouted.

  
‘I am still at a loss as to how you are worthy.’ Thorin frowned. He held out his hammer. ‘Lift it.’

  
You huffed and grabbed his hammer and waved it around before setting it on your coffee table. ‘There. Happy? I won’t hack you again and you won’t attack me again. Deal?’

  
‘We weren’t actually here to get revenge.’ The red head said. ‘We came here to recruit you.’

  
You raised an eyebrow. ‘Why on Earth would I do that?’

  
‘Because we could use your help. No one’s like you, y/n. You’re one of a kind that we need.’ She said.

  
‘Why should I?’ You asked.

  
‘To defend the Earth.’ Captain America said. ‘When they themselves can’t.’

 

You stared for a moment. 

'Let me pack a bag.' You grumbled.

 

 

Your first mission, you got trapped under the London Eye.

  
Admittedly, not one of your favourite days. Being crushed by a big metal and glass structure that was moving was bound to put a damper on your day.

  
You and Natasha focused on getting everyone clear of the area to prevent any more deaths when one of the big lumbering aliens grabbed you. It sniffed you and it recoiled as you stabbed it.

  
It released you and you fell to the ground, panting. You looked around to see a mound of rubble and Mjolnir lying on it. You smacked the alien around the face, one of its teeth cracking. It roared and swiped at you, only to be knocked back by you and the hammer.

  
Using telekinesis, you forced it into the river Thames.

  
It started to disintegrate before your eyes and you turned to Tony who was flying past. ‘THEY HATE WATER!’ You yelled.

 

  
Concentrating, you manipulated the water to scoop up as many aliens at once, disintegrating them. After they were all in the water, you poured the water back into the Thames. You silently apologised to the fish before turning to the pile of rubble where Thor was buried.

  
The rocks floated away and the god of thunder revealed, ultimately dazed. ‘That hurt.’ He complained.

  
‘Being buried alive will do that to you.’ You said drily.

  
‘Well done.’ Steve said, somewhat reluctantly.

  
Psychic senses flaring, you heard a loud creak and blasted everyone off their feet a good few hundred yards away. The Avengers stared in shock as the London Eye toppled down directly onto you. It was either get the Avengers to safety, or hold the Eye at bay for a short amount of time in which they couldn’t get away.

 

  
  
As the dust cleared, Steve saw the broken structure’s weight on your body.

  
When you’d first joined, he’d been wary. You were basically Tony, Natasha and Thor rolled into one. A lethal combination, in his opinion. Perhaps a bit of the Hulk thrown in too, considering you could be pretty scary when you were angry.

  
But he couldn’t help but like you.

  
You were sweet, generous, caring and frustratingly nice. He tried to dislike you, but your bravery and general personality made it hard.

  
Steve had questioned about their privacy, considering you could read minds. You swore truthfully that you’d never read any minds unless it was absolutely necessary. And he believed you. He didn’t feel that slight tingling whenever you rummaged around in his brain because he was too indecisive about what he wanted for breakfast.

  
He ran to a main beam of metal and tried to lift.

  
Steve cursed that they’d left Banner at the Avengers tower, considering they could really use Hulk’s strength at the moment. All of the present avengers, you not included, lifted with all their strength. Even combined, it was not enough. Even with a God by their side.

  
He ran to where you were and smacked the metal beam with his vibranium shield, chipping away at the metal. Once it was cut straight through, he pushed away the metal and looked over your body for any signs of life.

  
‘Fuck this whole thing. We threw you in at the deep end. We- I thought you could handle it. I’m the reason you’re dead.’ Steve’s voice cracked. ‘I told you my story and you promised to teach me how to dance. And now I can’t even protest to you that I can’t dance, for fuck’s sake.’

  
‘Language.’ Came the whisper. ‘I’m going to teach you how to dance if it kills me.’

 

You had enhanced healing, it turned out. You had a few bruises and couldn’t walk for a few days, but where you should’ve been paralyzed, you managed to defy Bruce’s predictions of severe spinal damage.   
When you joined the Avengers, most of them took to you very well. Most were eager to try and best you in combat (Natasha, Clint etc), Tony wanted to learn what you knew about computer networks and your methods, Bruce wanted to learn more about your biology and anatomy. Steve left you alone, however.

  
He was always cold and distant towards you.

  
Not wanting to push too much, you claimed that you were always there to talk to if he wanted. Other than cooking big meals for those in the tower, Steve would merely apologise for walking into you or something similar.

  
Until one night he knocked on your door at four in the morning. The morning when you were all supposed to leave for the mission in London. He looked awful, like he’d been crying. And he spilled his nightmare, his heart, out to you and you’d merely rubbed his back and told him it was ok to be sad and angry and tired.

  
‘She said she was gonna teach me how to dance and I still can’t.’ Steve sniffled.

 

  
‘Then I’ll teach you.’ You said brightly. ‘It’ll be fun!’ Steve looked doubtful. ‘Oh, please, you can’t leave me out on the dancefloor all alone, can you? A gentleman wouldn’t do that, would he?’

  
You stayed up for another half hour before sleep finally stole you away again. When you woke, a blanket was draped over you and a hot cup of tea by your bed.

 

 

You yawned and sat up, wincing slightly.

  
While the damage was mostly fixed, the pain sometimes overtook you. It was bearable, but certainly not pleasant. You’d had to assure Bruce that it wasn’t his fault that the Hulk hadn’t been able to lift the Eye off you, though he was still beating himself up about it.

  
Then there was Steve. He thought, that by throwing you in at the ‘deep end’, he was the one that caused your injuries. You told him over and over again that you forgave him, though he didn’t believe you. To make up for it, he began mother henning you for the duration of your incapacitation.

  
‘I brought you some breakfast.’ Steve said, carrying a tray.

  
You took it gingerly and raised an eyebrow at the porridge. It had two fried eggs as eyes and a strip of bacon as a smile. ‘Have you found my Disney collection?’ You asked. Steve blushed and handed you a mug of tea. ‘Thank you, Steve.’

  
‘No, thank you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All gifs/pictures are from the internet


	3. Beautiful Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After ten months, you'd have thought the Avengers would be comfortable around you now.   
> Apparently, that's a lot to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All images come from the internet, same with gifs.   
> Enjoy!

It was ten months since you had come back from that cabin in the middle of nowhere, and everyone was tiptoeing around you, as if they expected you to throw another hissy fit and leave. But, for one, you did not throw a ‘hissy fit’, you merely stopped putting up with their bullshit. For another thing, you had been sworn by the avengers to never be disregarded ever again.

  
It was only Bucky that remained normal around you. Like you weren’t going to blow up in everyone’s faces and start yelling and throwing things (which you’d never done in the first place). He was actually rather sweet. He’d open doors for you, make you tea, bring you crumpets.

  
You’d witnessed once Bucky fending off Clint who was trying to get one of your crumpets with a scrubbing brush. It made for such a domestic scene you were reminded of your parents. Thinking of them normally brought you down, considering the circumstances in which they died.

  
On a rainy Sunday, you woke up with Bucky curled around you like an octopus. ‘I feel like I’m in a chrysalis.’ You muttered, wriggling slightly and adjusting your position.

  
‘Nah, you’re a beautiful butterfly.’ Bucky replied sleepily. ‘How’d you sleep?’

  
‘Better with you.’ You said, snuggling into him.

  
He and Steve and sometimes a few others would go on missions and because Tony had banned you from going on a mission for two months, you were stuck at the compound. Luckily, someone always stayed behind. More often than not, it was Vision or Thor if the mission required espionage. You always missed his embrace at night, missed your own personal teddy bear.

  
‘Bleurgh, we should get up.’ You sighed, beginning to sit up.

  
Bucky pulled you back down and held you tight. ‘But I want you to stay here.’ He complained like a child.

  
‘I want doesn’t get, James.’ You chided, struggling to sit up.

  
‘Says who?’ Bucky wrapped himself tighter around you.

  
‘Says me!’

  
‘I dunno, I think I’m a bit of a rule breaker.’ Bucky grinned. ‘Besides, I’m pretty comfy.’

  
‘I’m not.’ You said playfully. ‘You’re all muscle and pointy bits.’

  
‘You weren’t complaining last night.’ Bucky pointed out.

  
‘Last night you weren’t putting all your weight onto me. You actually did some leg work.’ You huffed. ‘Now please get off me before I force you.’

  
‘Try your best, doll.’

  
You smirked. Challenge accepted.

 

 

Wanda, walking past with Vision, heard a loud shriek definitely made by a man as they walked past your room. ‘Should we help them?’ Vision asked Wanda.

  
‘No, they do this almost every other Sunday.’ Wanda sighed. Right on cue came the loud thud and sounds of passionate making out.

  
‘Is that common in a relationship?’ Vision asked.

  
‘Some.’ Wanda chuckled.

  
‘Do you expect me to do what they do?’ Vision asked, causing Wanda to blush intensely before she explained the birds and the bees again.

 

You slumped down at the kitchen table as Thor came in. ‘Morning Thor.’ You said sleepily.

  
‘It is a good morning, lady y/n.’ Thor said brightly.

  
‘What’s got you grinning like a loon?’ You asked, stretching slightly.

  
‘Tony is throwing a party.’ Thor said. ‘For one Bucky Barnes.’

  
‘What did Tony ask you to do?’ You frowned.

  
‘He asked me to sing in front of everyone.’

  
You choked on your tea and coughed slightly. ‘Really? That’ll be interesting.’

  
‘It will! I will sing a revered song!’ Thor then pranced out of the room and you stared after him, eyebrow raised.

  
Bucky entered, frowning back at Thor before sitting next to you. ‘What was that about?’

  
‘Ehm, he just found out that his favourite ice figure skating team won the championship.’ You said, remembering the news that had been on in the background.

  
‘Figure skating? Huh? Steve likes figure skating.’ Bucky hummed then froze. ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.’

  
‘Dude!’ Steve scowled.

  
‘Don’t worry, Steve. It’s a very manly competition.’ You said, trying to keep yourself from laughing.

  
Steve huffed. ‘One time at Coney island-‘

  
‘Steve!’ Bucky protested, going red.

  
‘What happened at Coney Island?’ You asked, intrigued.

  
‘Buck was nervous about this girl he wanted to impress and when he gets nervous, his eyes start to water. So Buck was looking around for this girl and then he saw her by the cotton candy. It was getting dark but he kissed her anyway. I know what you’re thinking – Buck doesn’t seem to be the type to just go in straight for it.’ Steve chuckled. ‘Not straight, anyway.’

  
You turned to Bucky whose ears were pink. ‘You kissed a guy?’

  
‘In all fairness, he was a very pretty man.’ Bucky grumbled. Steve laughed and Bucky seemed to take that as a challenge. ‘You wanna tell secrets? Fine. When it got really cold, Steve would wear leg warmers.’

  
Steve went bright red. ‘Bucky entered a Coco Chanel look-alike contest and won!’

  
Bucky bristled. ‘Steve came in fourth and cried!’

  
You sniggered and Steve looked at you. ‘Is that funny, then? How about I tell Buck some of your secrets?’

  
‘There’s no point, I’ve already told him all of my secrets.’ You said.

  
‘Does he know that you once were in an important meeting and your pants ripped right down the seams?’ Steve smirked.

  
You scowled. ‘Steve stays up every Friday night he’s here to watch Vampire Diaries.’

  
‘Buck couldn’t tell time until he was thirteen!’ Steve said.

  
‘Bucky once wore my underwear on a mission.’ You blurted and Bucky gaped at you. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of any more for Steve!’

  
‘One time, Bucky seduced the matron at school that cleaned the classrooms.’ Steve said.

  
Bucky frowned. ‘That was you.’

  
Steve shrugged. ‘You still kissed a guy.’

  
Natasha walked in, relatively unaware of the tension around you, Steve and Bucky. Then Steve blurted, ‘Nat and I once made out on the pool table.’

  
The ex-assassin’s head snapped around to Steve. ‘Why the hell did you tell them that?’ She demanded.

Steve stuttered and the red-head huffed. ‘Now stop acting like children, all of you. Y/n, can I talk to you for a moment?’

  
You and Natasha went a little way away out of earshot. ‘You ok? What’s wrong?’

  
‘So you know we’re throwing a party for Bucky?’ Natasha said.

  
‘Yeah. Why?’

  
‘We’ve been playing the triggers and they’ve not had an affect on him. It’s to celebrate that. But I need you to keep Bucky busy.’

  
You frowned. ‘How do I do that?’

  
Natasha pondered this for a moment before she spoke. ‘You take Bucky to your room and do whatever you do that makes him scream like a banshee.’

  
You blinked. ‘Or,’ you began. ‘We can go to lunch and watch a film.’

  
Natasha rolled her eyes. ‘Fine, but I think he’d appreciate the other thing better.’

  
‘Eh, well, that’s nice and all but I don’t think I can keep doing that for ages.’ You shrugged. ‘How long do you need?’

  
‘Five hours?’

  
‘I can give you three.’ You said, quickly doing the maths in your head. Bucky was an obscenely fast eater which reduced restaurant time.

  
‘Then why did you ask?’ Natasha huffed. ‘Just do what you can.’

  
You turned and walked back into the kitchen area where Steve and Bucky were sitting there like children on the naughty step.

‘Bucky, do you want to go out for something to eat?’ You asked.

  
The winter soldier nodded and practically sprinted to your room. You sighed and shook your head before turning to Steve. ‘No hard feelings?’

  
Steve smiled reluctantly. ‘Nah, we’re good. Just don’t go spillin’ my secrets everywhere.’

  
‘As long as you don’t spill mine.’ You smiled and went to your room.

  
Bucky had already changed so you put on some casual clothes. Some jeans, a black shirt and your favourite boots. You put on a coat over them and took Bucky’s hand.

 

 

Bucky was eating slower for some reason and you noticed, considering he’d only finished half of his soup whereas you’d nearly finished. ‘Sweetie, what’s wrong?’

  
‘What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong.’ He said, going back to his soup. You raised an eyebrow and he sighed. ‘How could you tell?’

  
‘You’re not eating as fast.’ You pointed out.

  
‘I don’t eat that fast.’ He protested.

  
‘You eat quicker than most.’ You said.

  
Bucky huffed. ‘Well, I was in the army doll. If you didn’t eat fast you didn’t eat.’

  
You chuckled. ‘So, what’s wrong?’

  
He sighed and pushed his plate away. ‘I just keep getting doubts.’

  
‘About?’

  
‘Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, doll, but you’re pretty darn beautiful.’ He reached over and brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear. ‘And I’m the winter soldier with a metal arm.’

  
‘Why should that mean anything?’ You frowned.

  
‘Just in the past ten minutes, I’ve seen about five guys walk past twice all looking at you.’ Bucky said. ‘Well, one was looking at both of us, but we’ll ignore that for now.’

  
You rolled your eyes. ‘Why would I care where some sleezy guys’ eyes wander? And, no matter what you think, my eyes only see you.’

  
He smiled that special smile. ‘Only you, doll.’

  
‘Did you want to see a film after this? There’s a viewing in Central Park.’ You said.

  
‘What’s it about?’ Bucky asked.

  
‘It’s about a man’s wife who is brutally murdered by a serial killer and his son is left physically disabled. In a twisted turn of events, the son is kidnapped and the father has to track and chase the kidnapper thousands of miles with a mentally disabled woman.’ You said and watched as Bucky’s eyes got wider and wider.

  
‘What’s it called?’ He asked, slightly in awe.

  
‘Finding Nemo.’ You giggled.

 

 

Halfway through ‘Finding Nemo’, your phone buzzed with a text from Natasha claiming that it was all good to bring Bucky back. So, once the film had finished, you strolled down the streets with Bucky.  
‘Did you like the film?’ You asked.

  
‘I’m glad Nemo got back to his father.’ Bucky said happily.

  
‘The reunion’s always the best part.’ You mused.

  
Your psychic senses started tingling and three masked men approached with guns. ‘Give us all the goods you have.’ One grunted.

  
‘Do you want to deal with them, or shall I?’ You asked Bucky.

  
‘How about we both so we can get back to the compound?’ Bucky shrugged and slipped off his jacket, revealing his metal arm.

  
You grabbed one bodily and threw him into a wall while his friend charged you. You flung him back with telekinesis while Bucky beat the ever-living crap out of him.

  
He then moved on to the one you’d tossed aside while you confronted the one struggling to stand. He wiped his mouth. ‘Pretty little girl like you shouldn’t get in my way.’ He fired his gun and you stopped the bullet in mid air. You then turned the bullet around and threw it into his leg.

  
Bucky wrapped his arm around you and you walked back to the compound. It started raining near the end, so he threw his jacket over the both of you and you sprinted through the doors.

 

 

It was dark, but once you entered the foyer, the lights turned on and everyone yelled ‘SURPRISE!’

  
What was weird was that Bucky also yelled surprise, which left you completely confused. Wasn’t it Bucky’s party?

  
‘I thought the party was for you.’ You said to Bucky.

  
He grinned. ‘That’s what we wanted you to think. You surprised?’

  
‘Kind of, considering I don’t know what the occasion is.’ You said.

  
Tony swaggered over to you. ‘Why it’s been two years since you joined the Avengers!’

  
You gaped. You really didn’t think anyone would remember and it didn’t really occur to you to kick up a fuss at no one commenting. ‘You guys, you didn’t have to do this!’

  
‘Yeah we did.’ Steve said gently. ‘You’re the glue that holds us all together.’

  
‘Still.’ You looked around at everyone milling about, some eating cake. ‘This is amazing, thank you.’

  
You made pleasant conversation with people from various places and somehow found yourself in a conversation involving the proper way to treat your child. It was one of those awkward situations that you couldn’t really get yourself out of. ‘I mean, I love the kid, but he really needs discipline in his life.’ He said. ‘If I’m going to be his step-father then he needs to learn some order and rules, not just prance around all day in that tutu and tank top like a fucking faggot.’

  
Fast forward to about half another painful hour later, you had had enough when he used the term, ‘Useless bitch raising a fairy faggot son’. As a result, you calmly placed your glass on the table and threw a right hook at the man, a satisfying cracking noise bouncing around the room.

  
‘That language is not acceptable here nor will it ever be.’ You growled.

  
‘I’ll say what I fucking want!’ The man retorted, cupping his jaw. ‘I don’t need some bitch telling me what I can and can’t do!’

  
All of the avengers rushed to get in the first punch, but Virginia Potts got there first. She slapped the man around the face, eyes flaring angrily. ‘You leave my friend alone.’

  
When the man raised a hand at Pepper, both you and Tony’s anger trebled. It was only your self-restraint that kept you from killing him, resorting to knocking him out in the most painful way.

 

 

After that cheerful event, Thor stepped up onto the small platform and tapped the microphone. You groaned internally as Thor began to sing, ‘I won’t say I’m in love’ from Disney’s Hercules.

  
It was truly terrible – but you couldn’t be so cruel to Thor.

Once or twice, to turned away a bit to try and stop laughing but it grew increasingly difficult. Some of the others excused themselves while sniggering.

  
Once he was done, you clapped weakly and some people followed suit. ‘I have another!’ He said cheerfully.

  
‘You know what, Thor? Why don’t you take a break?’ Bucky said, clapping Thor on the arm.

  
You wondered when Bucky had left your side, but it wasn’t surprising considering he had been trying to contain laughter too. He cleared his throat and tapped the microphone. ‘When I was a soldier in the war, my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t get to have a family which is what I’d desired since I was a young boy. Not many know that. And while I had a family, Steve and that lot, I knew one day I would have to leave them behind in some way. Death or otherwise. Turns out it was otherwise.

  
‘But when I was on the run in Romania and eventually France, I was in a daze. I didn’t know where I belonged in the world. I was a man out of time. But then I managed to catch a glimpse of where I was supposed to be and that was when I saw y/n. I saw what could’ve been and that cleared my mind. The threat of Hydra wasn’t there, I didn’t have to keep looking over my shoulder with her.’ Bucky looked directly at you. ‘I thought that it mattered what I said and where I said it. But I realised that as long as I’m with you, we don’t need elaborate exclamations of love. Because I am in love with you. And I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed, and that one day all of our labors will be returned to dust. And I know that the sun will swallow the only Earth we will ever have. And I am in love with you.’

  
Then he got down on one knee, taking the microphone with him. ‘So, y/n, will you marry me?’

  
‘Yes, a thousand times yes!’ You shouted and tackled Bucky, wrapping your arms around him. He placed the beautiful ring on your left ring finger and kissed you passionately.

  
As the congratulations rolled in from everyone, Bucky whispered in your ear, ‘I love you so much it’s unreal’.


	4. Crumpets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some angst, hurt/comfort, you kill someone, I use waaaay too many gifs and I should be doing my English hw right now but hey ho.

There were a few things you knew:

1) You loved Bucky and Bucky loved you.

2) You both knew just how much and didn't really need to do anything to prove it.

3) Bucky could not bake for his life.

On a lazy Sunday, rain pouring outside, you woke up just enough to reach over and snuggle with your Bucky bear. When he wasn't there, you frowned. He was always there when you woke up and you knew what happened if you weren't there when he woke up. The first and only time it happened, Tony was grumbling for a week about the cost of remodeling the compound after Bucky had frantically searched for you but you had just gone out with Nat. 

'FRIDAY?' You said.

'Yes, miss y/n?' The AI responded.

'Where's Bucky?' You asked, pulling on your bathrobe. 

'Cooking in the kitchen.' FRIDAY said and you, who had been taking a sip of water from the glass on your bedside table, did a spit take which you thought only happened in films. 

'Cooking? For how long?'

'A good hour.' The AI said cheerfully.

You walked cautiously into the kitchen, preparing for the smell of burnt food. Instead, the smell of flour greeted your nose and you saw one of the most adorable sights you'd ever seen. Bucky was wearing a hairnet, an apron and some oven mitts while chatting idly with Sam who looked like he was trying not to laugh. 'Morning.' You said and both eyes fell on you. 'FRIDAY said you were cooking.' 

'Oh, uh, I wanted to surprise you.' Bucky mumbled. 'Tony said women like breakfast in bed.'

'Did he also say you have to wear a hairnet?' You asked, trying to keep a straight face. 

'Actually, that was Sam.' Bucky pointed with a glove to Sam who was chuckling into his coffee.

He went into the pantry to find something and you began picking up some things scattered on the breakfast bar and table. 'I hope it's still funny when you're in hell.' You snarked and Sam just laughed harder.

Bucky came back humming a a song that sounded suspiciously like 'I won't say i'm in love', carrying a new box of shreddies. He sat it down in front of your place then turned to the oven and pulled out a tray with round bread things you couldn't really tell the name of. 

'So what have you made?' You asked, discreetly elbowing Sam in the ribs. 

'I have made some crumpets.' Bucky said proudly, placing a plate in front of you with three 'crumpets', some chopped up fruit and an egg in an egg cup with a spoon. A mug of tea followed and a bowl for your daily shreddies. 

'Sweetie, you didn't have to do this.' You said, just before taking a bite of a 'crumpet'. 'It's good.' You said, chewing thoroughly. When you were still chewing a few minutes later, Bucky looked a bit worried. You finally swallowed and made a 'hmmm' noise, trying to look satisfied.

'Bucky, these look more like English muffins.' Sam said, examining one. 

'They're crumpets!' He huffed.

Sam bit into one and made an unmanly squeak, holding his hand to his mouth. You looked at Sam, concerned and Bucky looked mildly horrified. 'You okay?' You asked and Sam nodded, bringing a napkin ton his mouth and spitting out his bite of 'crumpet'. 

'I just heard a crunch.' He said.

Bucky put his hands in his head, groaning from embarrassment. 'They're that awful?'

'What are these?' Natasha asked curiously, peering at the 'crumpets'. 'English muffins?'

'Crumpets.' Bucky corrected, his voice muffled.

 

After you braved your breakfast from Bucky, a sweet gesture, but the crumpets tasted like cardboard, you decided to do some training with the others.

You dropped into a fighting stance against Steve who copied you. Your movements were quick enough to intercept Steve's attacks but you started losing ground as you began to have flashbacks of your parents' deaths. Instead of Steve, you were suddenly fighting against the skilled killer. Your sudden hurt, anguish and anger made your control over your powers slip and Steve went flying into the far wall.

Slowly, you shook your head and backed away at the sight of Bucky helping Steve to his feet. Your fiance wouldn't look at you. 

You turned and ran out of the training area. The others could hear the door to your and Bucky's room slam shut.

A once-dormant monster was writhing in your chest and you were struggling to control it. You splashed some water on your face, trying to get some clarity into your head. To your horror, as you stared into the mirror, it started cracking.

You were thankful for the sound-proof walls because a scream fell from your mouth and you backed away, closing the door to the bathroom with your mind so hard it shattered into splinters and chunks of wood. 'FRIDAY.' You managed to cough out. 'Don't let anyone into my rooms. And don't let me out until i've gotten my powers under control.'

'Am I to keep Sargent Barnes out as well?' FRIDAY asked, a hint of worry in the AI's voice.

'Keep him out as well.' You said, eyes closing as you leaned against the wall.

 

You heard several people try and convince the AI to let them into your rooms, Bucky, Tony, Steve, the works. Tony tried to override your command, but after you threatened FRIDAY with a virus, not even Tony could sway the AI. 

For a while, you merely sat there with the energy floating around in your chest and mind, pushing at your barriers to let it be free. Its influence caused everything in the room to float a foot above the ground, even when you weren't concentrating and just staring off into space, locked in your own mind. 

Wanda's voice drew your attention, though. 'Y/n? It' me, Wanda.'

'Please, i'm worried for you. If you come out, we can sort this whole thing out.' The Sokovian promised. 'You're scared, I can feel it. But we can help, y/n.'

Something was sullying your thoughts, and instead of feeling touched at her concern, paranoia came into play. 'Stay out of my head.' You growled, your psychic senses allowing you to feel Wanda's powers trying to touch and influence your mind. All you could feel was the betrayal that Wanda was searching through your head.

Your powers started flaring up again.

'Y/n?' Bucky's voice reached your ears. 'Wanda was just trying to help.' 

Doubt and anger filled your thoughts. Why was he in on it? Didn't Bucky love you? Why would he betray you like that? A knot formed in your throat as pain flared in your heart. 

The windows were blasted into the room and every object was forced to the wall of the room. The AI seemed to sense the graveness of the situation and finally allowed the Avengers in, but you were waiting for them. Angry. 

How dare they betray you like that? How could Bucky betray you like that? Your eyes drifted to each avenger, their weapons raised. But not Natasha. She merely stepped back in plain fear.

Spirits from the other side started shifting restlessly around you and the Avengers, waiting for your word on whether to defend you. Steve hefted his shield slightly and Tony raised his hand, ready to shoot. You gave the silent order and turned away.

Bucky blanched as spirits who looked pissed off advanced on them. So far, they didn't have any defence against ghosts. 

Using telekinesis, you floated out of the compound and away. Far away.

 

On the other side of the world, London to be exact, James Smith, notorious assassin for hire and very good at his job, sat counting his latest pile of money in his flat when he heard a noise.

Silently, he took his gun from the table and walked to the door. James peered out of the peephole and couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there. 

After deciding no one was there, he turned back to count his money but his jaw dropped to the floor. The pile of money was ripped to shreds, beyond repair. 'No no no!' He growled, putting his gun on the side and stepping further into the kitchen. 

'How does it feel to lose what you love most?' A female voice said and James turned. You were standing by the broken window, eyes dark. 'That's what you did to me.'

'How did you get in here?' James demanded, reaching for his gun. The gun floated in the air, clicking reader to shoot, pointed at James.

'You killed my parents without a second thought of the daughter they left behind.' Your voice cracked. 'No one will be sad to see you go, James. Not even your ex-wife and son.' 

You took in a deep breath, certain the neighbours would call the police from the noise. 

You were gone before the police were even alerted. 

 

You were sat on a low wall in a small town in France, the market causing a busy commotion behind you. It didn't take you long to come down from your power high, but you'd wound up right in the same place your love story with Bucky first started.

Said man sat down next to you, cup with your favourite tea in hand. He handed it to you without a word. You accepted it hesitantly taking a small sip. 

'Thank you.' You said after a few moments.

'I have something for you.' Bucky dug around in his pockets and pulled out a string with two stones from plums on it. 'These are the stones from the plums we first ate here.' He looked at you with such love in his eyes it was so sweet. 

Such a gesture was awfully romantic and a small smile formed on your lips. 'That's... very romantic. And kind of gross.' Bucky chuckled.

'What happened, y/n?' Bucky asked and you sighed.

'I started getting emotional. And when I get emotional I forget to make good decisions or think clearly. I had it in my head that you had all betrayed me.' You slumped slightly. 'And then I went to London and... I killed my parents' killer.'

'Oh.' Was all he said.

'After I came down from my power high, a though occurred to me. A reason for why my brain dredged up all that emotional stuff and why I was emotional to begin with.' You rested your head against Bucky's shoulder. 

'What reason is that?'

'Remember when you woke me up in a panic because you thought I was dying because I had merely leaked from my period?' You asked and Bucky blushed yet nodded. 'My last one was two months ago.'

And that was around the time that Bucky fainted. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All gifs are from the internet and not mine.


	5. The letter finally came...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your dear, darling relatives come to visit for Christmas...

You loved your family, you really did, and when your parents passed away your aunt and uncle took you in with humility and grace. 

But that was _not_ to say that they agreed with your life choices. If your aunt Claire had any kind of choice in your life, you would be working as a banker for Lloyd's Bank in London, living in a flat with two cats and a wealthy husband. Not slaving it around with some 'American Avengers that do more harm than good'. They were never too keen on the men you had dated in the past, simply because they wanted aesthetically pleasing children running around at Christmas. Bucky was very easy on the eyes, but you had no idea how they would react when they found out that you were dating an ex-assassin.

When the 19th of December rolled around, your three month old baby bump causing morning sickness (more like all day sickness), you had declined/'inconveniently missed' ten calls from your aunt, three stern emails from your Uncle, Robert and everything going on at once was causing your head to spin. 

You were sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly at your phone which was buzzing, notifying your aunt Claire calling. You barely noticed the mug of tea set down in front of you and Natasha sitting opposite you. 'What's up? You're looking stressed.'

'Oh, I don't know.' You said tightly, jaw clenched. 'Maybe it's the fact that my relatives are pestering me to either go over to England for Christmas or pay for them to come here. Or, maybe it's the fact that i'm being sick nearly twenty-four seven. Or perhaps i'm just stressed about my aunt and uncle meeting Bucky, an ex-Hydra assassin.'

Natasha nodded. 'I'd be stressed too.'

'I might as well answer.' You sighed and pressed the green button. 

'Y/n, darling!' Claire's voice rang in your ear. 'You've not been answering my calls!'

'Yes, well, i've been busy with work-'

'Oh, yes, your job.' Claire said, a sneer in her voice. 'Well, me and Robert have been talking with your rich friend Tony Stark.' You closed your eyes slowly, making a grave promise that no one would ever find Tony's body. 'And he agreed to pay for us to get out to America and spend Christmas with you and all your other work friends.'

Natasha pulled the fork from your grip, throwing it across the room and shaking her head. 

'How lovely.' You bit out.

'We'll get to meet your fiance.' Claire said cheerfully. _We're on that again, are we?_ You growled in your mind. Claire hadn't let it go once you'd accidentally left your phone in the kitchen and Bucky had picked it up and answered. 

'Um, husband actually.' You corrected. 'We decided to elope and we came back from our honeymoon one month ago.' It had been a beautiful, last minute thing. After the whole hoohar over your parent's killer, you and Bucky had gone to a priest in Greece and invited the Avengers to witness. The ceremony was done at dusk, with you still in your training gear. The temple was open and crumbling, but the Priest apparently knew your parents so he was glad to help.

Silence on the other end.

'Ah. I see. Well, you should've told us!' Claire said and you could tell she was restraining herself from yelling. 'Anyway, we'll be in America by five this afternoon. It'd be wonderful if you could pick us up.' You glanced at the clock. You had four hours. That was long enough to pummel Tony out of existence, wasn't it?

'How many people are coming, can I ask?'

'Oh, well, there's me and Robert, the three kids and Robert's sister, Julie.' Claire hummed and you had to try and hold back a groan. Six of your posh, rich relatives in one room? 'We have to go now, dear. See you later.' 

You blinked at the screen before turning it off and chugging down the tea Natasha had given you. Once you had finished, Natasha eyed you warily. 'Who are you going to kill?'

'Tony. He's a dead man.' You stood and made your way to Tony's lab. 

'Hey, y/n, what can I do for you?' Tony asked, looking up from the project he and Bruce were working on.

'Bruce,' you said sweetly. 'Do you think me and Tony could talk in private?'

Bruce, recognising that the 'sweet voice' meant you were going to 'hulk out', nodded and left in a hurry. Tony gulped and removed his gloves. 'Is this because I ate the last of the crumpets?' He asked nervously.

'No, try again.' You said cheerfully and closed the door to the lab.

'Um, I stole your walkman?' He offered.

You raised an eyebrow. You hadn't known about that. 'No, but I want that back.'

'I don't know.' He stood and backed up slightly.

'Would you like a clue? My relatives are coming here to stay for Christmas in the Avengers tower, did you know that? How do you think that happened?' You took a bit of satisfaction from Tony's face paling to a whiter shade of pale. You summoned a ghostly gospel choir and began serenading  some very religious songs to the very agnostic Tony Stark.

 

You, Wanda and Thor had agreed to make the Christmas meal to be shared with the Avengers and your relatives. Wanda and Thor were discussing the different recipes that they could use while you shrugged on your coat moodily. 'Y/n, what do you think of me making a pudding fit for kings?' Thor asked, waving a recipe in her direction.

'Sounds great.' You said with a tired smile. 'Do you need anything else before I leave?'

'Could you grab a turkey from the butchers? I have the receipt here and you'll be passing it anyway.' Tony said, walking over to you and handing you a piece of paper. 

'Only if you'll fist the turkey.' You said, sniggering at Tony's shocked look and leaving quickly before Tony could refuse. 

As you left, you heard Thor question why one would need to fist a turkey. 

 

Happy Hogan held a sign saying 'Jones Family' while you sighed and tapped your foot against the floor impatiently. 'Are they really that bad?' Happy asked.

'They're very trying at times.' You admitted. You waited for another five minutes, before you heard a shriek of 'Y/N/N!' You grimaced and turned to see your aunt and uncle, your spoiled cousins Prudence, Patience and Ferdinand. Prudence was the elder sister, Ferdinand in the middle and the youngest was Patience. Robert's sister walked along near Robert, looking something like Cruella De Vil but without the affinity with Dalmation dogs (at least you hoped). 

'Oh my.' Happy breathed. 

'Oh, darling, you've put on weight.' Claire said, gesturing to your baby bump. 

'Thanks.' You grumbled but greeted them with a hug each anyway. 

The ride back to the tower was met with arguing, shouts, degradation from your dear uncle's sister, Wilhelmina about your weight, hair, etc. 'So, dear.' Wilhelmina said, twirling the fur on her animal skin coat that made your skin crawl. 'When are we going to meet this husband of yours?'

'He'll probably be there when we get to the tower.' You gritted out.

'Probably?'

'He sometimes goes for long walks.' You said, barely restraining yourself from snapping. 

'How do you know he's not cheating on you, dear?' Wilhelmina drawled and you didn't reply, rolling your eyes and praying for strength. 

 

You grimaced as Happy, the stubborn man, took all of your relative's bags in at once. You insisted on taking something, but he refused graciously despite you hearing a painful cracking noise.

By the time you caught up with your relatives, they were already being met by Natasha, Wanda and Steve. You could plainly sense their mild disgust/discomfort, but they put on fake smiles and polite voices. Steve rushed to help Happy, who groaned at relief from the massive bag containing your aunt's shoes. 

'You're very strong.' Prudence said flirtatiously, making a face that made your stomach turn. 

'Uh, thanks.' Steve mumbled. 

'You're Black Widow, then?' Ferdinand said to Natasha, his nose wrinkling. 'I do hope you can cook better than you can fight.'

Natasha looked desperate to punch your cousin, a thin wiry young man, in the face and break a few bones yet you could tell she was trying her best. 'I get by.'

'Then I fear for Earth.' Ferdinand sniffed. 

The spirits around you were becoming agitated at your anger and frustration and you refrained a laugh when one of them, a young boy, frowned at Ferdinand and stuck his finger up his nose which caused Ferdinand to sneeze ungracefully. 

 

With smug satisfaction, you could tell Tony was regretting inviting your family over for Christmas because the tower never had a silent moment with the cousins fighting loudly. The avengers, however, took it in their stride to be civil with your family and keep them entertained for the next painful ten days. 

You once found Pietro banging his head against the wall after playing a game of monopoly with your family, something that didn't really surprise you. 

Another time, you found the cousins trying to lift Thor's hammer and trying not to find it funny when they all fell on their butts. Eventually, you moved it out of their reach and they glared at you with envy. 

You only found solace at night, when you were curled up with Bucky. 'Your family are... nice.' He said on the first night of your family's arrival.

'You don't have to lie.' You snorted. 'They're trying, but I love them all the same.'

'What were your parents like?' Bucky asked. 'Hopefully not like your aunt and uncle.'

'No, they were nothing like Claire and Robert.' You said, and heaved a deep breath. 'They were wonderful people. My father would take me out every Saturday morning without fail to see the sunrise, to remind me that light is never truly lost.'

'He and my mother would tuck me in at night and if i ever woke up because of a nightmare, or because I thought there was a monster in the wardrobe, they would be there and they would tell me the same story every night to get me to sleep.'

'They sound really lovely.' Bucky said, smiling softly.

'My dad was also a bit of a joker at times, sometimes a bit childish, and my mother balanced his crazy with hers. But whenever I was sick, she would make spicy tomato soup because that's what her parents gave her, and she'd tell me stories to distract me.' You smiled sadly. 'They went to Europe once, for 'an adventure'. They were only gone for two weeks, but it felt like forever. I thought they had abandoned me because they didn't contact me at all, but later I found out they had written a long letter but it got lost in the mail. Still hadn't arrived.' You huffed. Bucky merely hugged you tighter.

 

Your family had been surprised when you said that you were pregnant instead of putting on weight and they probed Bucky on whether he would have enough money to support you both etc causing Robert to give a lengthy lecture on why having a steady income was better for supporting a family. 

Then came the question of baby names. Your aunt gave all sorts of suggestions like Bernadette, Althea, Hildegarde, Maude and Yareli for a girl or Ellery, Everard, Furman, Garfield and Hoyt for a boy. Bucky's grimace behind Claire's back was all the answer you needed. You didn't fancy your child being bullied at school for their name. 

When Christmas Day came, you were up and out of bed, cooking with Wanda and Thor before most people were up. Out of spite, you dragged Tony out of bed, giving Pepper a salute, to deal with the turkey which he did not appreciate. 

'Morning.' Bucky said, yawning and stumbling into the kitchen. 

'Merry Christmas.' Wanda said.

'Happy birth of Jesus day.' You said to throw Bucky off guard who blinked at you blearily. 'If we finish the turkey and have the roast potatoes underway, we can do presents.' You promised and pecked a tired Bucky on the lips. 

Just as you were wiping down the surface, Prudence ran in looking like she'd had a eureka moment. 'Do you know what would be brilliant?' She said excitedly. 'If you and Bucky died!'

You squinted at her and Bucky looked up from the sofa where he was taking a nap, frowning at your cousin. 'Gee, thanks.' He huffed.

'No, no, then I would get the baby! I mean you know, it'd be just like a movie, like at first I wouldn't know what to do with her, then I would rise to the occasion, and then I get a make-over and then I get married?' Prudence squealed, obviously excited about getting your child that wasn't even born yet.

'That's a great movie!' Natasha said, taking a gulp of coffee.

'Uh...' You glanced at Bucky who was looking even more pissed off.

'Now, not that you could stop me or anything, but do you think I could change its name? I just don't really like the idea of having a child that you've named.' Prudence said patronisingly. 

'Um, Prudence, I don't know how to tell you this but...' You looked at Bucky again. 'If anything were to happen to me and Buck,' you both tapped the nearest wooden object. 'You wouldn't get the baby.'

Prudence raised an eyebrow. 'Well, who would?'

'Well, we've not really asked them yet, but we would want Tony and Pepper to do it.' You said and Bucky nodded.

'Aww, y/n, i'm so touched!' Pepper said, slinging an arm around your shoulders and pecking a kiss on your temple. 

'I can't believe you have that much faith in us.' Tony said, looking rather misty eyed. 

'I don't believe this. Hold on a second. You guys die...and I don't get your baby?' Prudence scowled, like it was a big surprise.

'Well, Prudence, we're a lot closer to Tony and Pepper. Besides, you don't really seem ready for that kind of commitment.' You reasoned.

'How hard can it be? It'll be a lump!' Prudence protested. 'Alright, fine, if rich play boy and matchstick over there kick the bucket, then do I get the baby?' She pressed.

You looked at Bucky again, who spoke for you. 'Well, in that case, it would go to Steve and Sharon.' He pointed to where Steve was chopping some carrots and he gave a small wave.

'Why would you choose this stranger over me?' Prudence pouted. 'This is such a slap in the face!'

'Steve served with Bucky in the army and saved his life. Besides, they were childhood friends.' You said, throwing the cloth onto the counter. 

'No, no, Bucky's friend was really skinny and weak, wasn't he?' Prudence frowned.

'That was me.' Steve said.

'Let's open presents.' Claire said after a long silence. 

 

Bucky, who was sat next to you, leaned in to whisper to you. 'I want to give you your present when we're alone, doll.'

'Can I give you yours now?' You asked. He nodded. You handed him an old watch with a lid that could hold a picture and had a stag on the front. 

'Doll, it's beautiful.' He smiled. 'Where did you get it?'

'It belonged to my dad.' You said.

His eyes widened. 'I can't take this-'

'Yes you can.' You smiled. 'I think he would've wanted you to have it.'

'But this is important to you.' Bucky insisted. 

'But you're important to me.' You said. 'And I took the liberty of putting a picture of our family in there.' You had FRIDAY take a picture of all of you together in one room, laughing and smiling at Tony trying to act out pulp fiction. Bucky smiled and kissed you gently.

'Y/N? Here's your present.' Tony said, handing you a box. You smiled and rolled your eyes at the gold walkman set in a velvet lined box. 

'What did you get us?' Patience asked you petulantly.

'Well, we got you this.' You said, handing your cousin a box.

'What? Now that you're married, we only get one present from you?' Ferdinand scowled. 

'Last Christmas you gave me a hug for Christmas.' You pointed out.

 

You breathed a sigh of relief one you sat back against the headboard, Christmas finally over. 'That was a long day.' You sighed.

Bucky, who had been undressing, chuckled. 'It ain't over yet doll.'

You opened one eye to peer at him. 'You can't be horny after all of that, can you?'

Bucky rolled his eyes and slid into bed next to you. 'I mean, I still haven't given you your gift, doll.'

'Oh.' You had completely forgotten after the whole Christmas meal after Wanda was reduced to tears from Robert's sister criticising her cooking.

Your husband handed you an old package with various different stamps on it from all sorts of places like Thailand and Greece. It was addressed to you, in a painfully familiar handwriting. 'It's the letter that never came, doll.' Bucky said, wrapping his arms around you gently. 'I had FRIDAY track it down and get it here.'

'Oh, Bucky.' Your voice hitched as you opened the package with trembling hands. You pulled out the letter and unfolded it. 'Dearest daughter - since we've been abroad we have missed you so much. Certain events have compelled us to extend our travels. One day, when you're older, you will learn all about the people we have befriended and the dangers we have faced.

'At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough.

And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may, in fact, be the first steps of a journey. We hope to have you back in our arms soon, darlings, but in case this letter arrives before our return, know that we love you. It fills us with pride to know that no matter what happens in this life, that you will always be able to find love and care in the darkest of times, with kindness and bravery and selflessness, as you always have. And remember one thing, my darling and never forget it: that no matter where we are, know that as long as you have courage and kindness, you have your family. And you are home.'

Bucky was rocking you slowly, a comforting hand rubbing circles on your baby bump. 'I love you, doll.'

You took out the last thing in the package and a pocket watch fell into your hand.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'The Letter that never came' is from A series of unfortunate Events and I admit I have changed it slightly to fit your character, but the idea was just too good not to use.  
> Dearest apologies to anyone whose name is in fact Bernadette, Althea, Hildegarde, Maude and Yareli or Ellery, Everard, Furman, Garfield and Hoyt.  
> BTW, no images/gifs are mine. All are from the internet.  
> I'm considering what the/your baby should be. Girl, boy, twins? If so, what genders? If no one offers, i'll just choose myself :-)  
> Probably going to write a new chapter on Sunday/Monday


	6. What Is And What Should Never Be... Part 1

Seven months in and you felt like a walrus.

Or a whale. 

Or a balloon.

Either way, you were finding it increasingly difficult to maneuver yourself through life when some Avengers (cough, Tony, cough) were taking advantage of you being slower than normal and not having your normal mobility. At one point, Tony had the good sense to put your crumpets on a plate on the floor where it was near-impossible for you to grab them unless you wanted to sit down on the floor and scootch yourself over like a dog scratching its butt. In return, you had telekinesis-ed his favourite bottle of scotch to the top of the cupboards where he wasn't tall enough to reach them. 

Bucky had opted to remain out of your bickering, but still looked on with fondness whenever the two of you argued like children. As you were the pregnant one, most of the avengers had decided to be on your side of the pointless fighting. So when it came to him complaining about the spirit dog chewing all of his shoes, the avengers ignored him. 

While it was unlikely, it was still possible you'd have an early delivery so they were fluttering around you constantly. Once, you had called Steve while he was out with Sharon to ask what he wanted you to make for them under the guise of him cooking and he immediately assumed you were in labour and started panicking. Another time, Wanda and Vision had gone out to get paprika and some other stuff and you'd called them to ask whether they could grab some marmite too as you were running out and you'd screamed like a banshee when Vision burst through the window looking as anxious as an android could be. In turn, Bucky came running with his hair still soapy and nothing covering his modesty. 

You had to constantly remind them that it was more likely that you would be overdue than have an early delivery, but none of them seemed to listen. 

On one of the rare occasions that all of the Avengers were on earth and in the compound, you were all sat in the cozy living room you'd kind of cultivated into a nest, but none of the Avengers dared to comment on it. Pepper was snuggling (though Tony would never admit it) with Tony, Steve with Sharon, Thor with Jane, Vision with Wanda and you with Bucky.

'Do you ever think of what life would be like if I hadn't gone into the ice?' Steve said randomly.

'You may not be here.' You said. 

'What do you think everything would be like if I hadn't been set free from Hydra?' Bucky asked quietly and no one answered. 

'What if I was poor?' Tony shuddered at the mere thought.

You rolled your eyes. 'What if I had accepted my duties?' You pondered and Bucky frowned at you.

'Duties?'

'There was a possibility, if I was willing, to take up my mother's position as a Lady.' You shrugged. 'It's no big deal, really.'

'Damn.' Sam whistled. 

'What if Ultron never happened? I wouldn't be here.' Vision pointed out.

'What if I wasn't brought over to SHIELD?' Natasha said.

'What if Loki hadn't betrayed Asgard? I wouldn't be here.' Thor said. 'I'd still be foolhardy and arrogant.'

'Still?' Pietro scoffed, causing you to elbow him in the ribs sharply.

Not really bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation (you were always so damn tired all the time), you let your mind wander.

                                                                                    

_*****_

__

_'Get up, Tony.'  James dumped a jug of water over Tony Stark's head._

_'What was that for?' He grumbled, sitting up and shivering slightly._

_'You been drinking again? Another bar fight?' James demanded. 'You know you can't waste money, Stark! Not while you're still squatting in this mole hole.' He gestured around him to the rotting walls and the disturbing smell._

_'It's none of your business.' Tony snapped. 'I'll do whatever I like.'_

_'I'm trying to help, Tony. Ever since your dad died, you've let the company go to ruin! You've been sued fifty times!' Rhodey snapped back._

_'It's not my company anymore. I don't think it can even be counted as a company.' Tony sighed._

_'Come on, Stark, what would your old man say?' Rhodey said._

_Tony rolled his eyes. 'He'd tell me to get off my lazy ass and make something of myself.'_

_'Exactly.'_

_'This place really is a dump.' Tony pointed out. 'How do I start making something of myself?'_

_'There's probably a youtube video somewhere.' Rhodey shrugged. 'But i'd start with getting a job. It doesn't matter if it's a job as a clerk or a waiter, just get a job. Oh, and I told every bar, club and store to never let you buy alcohol from them again.' He smiled at Tony's incredulous glare and left._

_*****_

__

_Clinton Barton hauled in some wood from outside, grunting slightly at the effort. He had worked for SHIELD for what seemed like forever, but now he was finally retired. His leg still gave him trouble, an old wound from Budapest, but he got by._

_'Honey, do you need help?' Laura asked concernedly, balancing Jason on her hip._

_'I'm good.' He panted and lugged the bag into the main room and dumped it next to the fire. Clint threw off his shoes and walked back over to his wife, only to step on some lego and bite back a curse. 'Just my leg.'_

_'Maybe you should see someone about that.' Laura suggested._

_'I'll live, it's okay.' Clint assured._

_'Oh, I got a letter from the school.' Laura said excitedly. 'Apparently, they've got a guest speaker coming into Cooper's class and we can go watch if we like. It turns out they're quite famous, but it's a secret as to who is it.'_

_'Sounds interesting.' Clint mused. 'Think its some politician?' He asked with distaste._

_'God I hope not.'_

_'Daddy?' Lila's voice made them turn to her. 'I cut my leg.' She looked like she was holding back tears._

_Clint set to work and cleaned up the wound gently, giving soft reassurances that she was so brave. After, he helped her made a lego house for her animals for the rest of the afternoon._

_*****_

__

_Wanda Maximoff had had a good life. Better than most, though there were ups and downs._

_Her brother, Pietro, was killed in a drive-by shooting which she could never quite get over. But once she turned twenty, she went to America and became a school teacher. Shortly before school officially started, the Principle called Wanda into his office._

_'Wanda, have a seat.' Mr Vision said in his British accent, gesturing to the seat opposite him._

_'I'm not in trouble, am I?' Wanda joked._

_Mr. Vision smiled. 'No, I wanted to inform you to clear a space during the last hour on Friday as we have a very important guest speaker coming in to talk.'_

_'May I ask who it is?' Wanda asked curiously._

_'Have you ever heard of Lady Y/N L/N?' Mr Vision asked and Wanda gasped._

_'No, really? How did you manage that?' Lady Y/N L/N came from a family with Ancient roots and, as some conspiracies claimed, magical ones. She, like her mother before her, was very influential in the world and managed to make a good impact on the problem of world hunger and a fair few wars as she played mediator quite well._

_'Well, I have a distant friend, Dr Bruce Banner, who knows Miss Virginia Potts who attended the same University as her and they were good friends so I managed to pull some strings.' Mr Vision said, sounding a bit smug._

_'I will keep it a secret from the children.' Wanda promised. Almost everyone had heard of Lady Y/N L/N and it would spread like wildfire if it ever got out._

_'Allow them to invite their parents.' Mr Vision added._ _Just as Wanda was about to leave, Mr Vision spoke. 'Wanda, I was wondering if you would perhaps like to get a drink with me?'_

_'Yes, i'd like that.' Wanda blushed. 'Is Saturday good?'_

_'I've heard the Wilson pub down the road does very good drinks.' Mr Vision said. 'I will meet you there at seven?'_

_'Seven it is.' She smiled._

_*****_

__

_'Thank you for coming so quickly, y/n.' Nick Fury said as you followed him along the corridor. 'I understand you're very fully booked, nowadays?'_

_'I'm ditching a charity fundraiser for third world countries, Fury. Can we get to the point?' You snapped. The stress of living a life of... well, boardrooms and business meetings, was taking a toll on you. Not to mention how restless the spirits were getting, it was hard to help them pass on and continue with your duties._

_'He stumbled here an hour ago. He said he broke free from HYDRA's control long enough to get away.' Fury said, pressing his hand to a scanner and the door opened. You followed and the door slid shut behind you. 'He says that HYDRA used to call him the Asset, or the Winter Soldier.'_

_'What was his name originally?' You asked, walking up to the one-way mirror._

_'James Buchanan Barnes.' Fury said._

_You raised an eyebrow. Bucky Barnes, the sidekick of Captain America. The latter had died five ago under mysterious circumstances and it was suspected to be an assassination, but never proven. 'And you want me to...?'_

_'Get inside his head and get rid of HYDRA's control.' Fury said. 'Or check he's telling the truth.'_

_'I'll do both.' You said simply and walked into the secure holding cell._

_*****_

__

_Bucky stared through the glass of his holding cell at the beautiful woman who entered. She gave a calm smile and sat down on a chair so she was directly facing him. 'Who are you?' Bucky asked._

_'My name is Y/N.' She said. 'And you're James Barnes.'_

_'Bucky.' He corrected, then cringed internally._

_'Alright, Bucky.' She seemed unfazed. 'So you're the Winter Soldier?'_

_'Yeah.' He coughed._

_'Bucky, I may not be a Super Soldier, but I do have certain gifts. If you can call them that. I can move things with my mind.' She waved at the metal table that had a glass of water on it. Said glass rose up into the air, then set itself down gently. 'I can summon spirits to my aid, or help them move on. And I have telepathy.'_

_'You want to look inside my head.' Bucky stated._

_'You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide.' Y/N said soothingly. 'I want to help you, Bucky.'_

_Eventually, he nodded._

_'Let's begin.'_

_*****_

__

_After the fifth failed cappuccino, tenth clotted hot chocolate and second congealed espresso, Tony was ready to die._

_Working in a coffee shop was harder than he thought. He generally liked coffee, drinking it at least, but making it for other snooty, rich, condescending people? Not so much. He growled and threw down his cloth to wipe away the foam._

_'Uh, hi.' A female voice said, causing Tony to look up. She was very pretty, with ginger hair and a spatter of freckles. 'Can I have an Americano, please?'_

_Tony nodded and scrabbled to made the coffee as best he could. He put his whole effort into it and it didn't even look that bad. 'Um, that's $4. 20.' Tony said, wincing at the price. She gladly gave him a fiver and he handed her change back. She gave him a friendly smile and left with her coffee._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My theory is that if the Barton Family never met Natasha, they probably wouldn't have named their baby Nathaniel so I chose a random one.


	7. What Is And What Should Never Be...Part 2

_*****_

__

_'Bucky?' She said gently once she had pulled out of his mind. 'How are you feeling?'_

_Everything was so fuzzy it was hard to focus, but even then, his mind was clearer than it had ever been before. 'Good. I feel good.'_

_'Do you remember everything?' She asked and Bucky suddenly had images of Howard Stark and Steve... oh god Steve..._

_'I killed him.' Bucky said quietly, his voice cracking. 'How could I...?'_

_'Who did you kill?' She prompted._

_'I killed Steve... Why did I do that? How could I?' Bucky was close to shouting now, pulling on his restraints._

_'Bucky, the grasp Hydra had over you was so strong you weren't in your right mind. It wasn't you, Bucky.' She stood and walked up closer to his cell. 'From the moment I walked in here, Bucky, I could feel you holding your breath. Listen to me when I say this, Bucky, you are still you. But the Winter Soldier was not you. You get to exhale now, Bucky. You get to be more you than you have been in... in a very long time.'_

_'I don't even know how I broke out of Hydra's control.' Bucky said quietly, slumping in his prison._

_'The mind is a powerful thing. But It can only be restrained for so long.'_

_'But I still killed them.' Bucky said dully._

_'Bucky, I-'_

_'Get out.' He said, coldness lacing his tone. 'Get out.'_

_*****_

__

_'How does it feel to be king, brother?' Loki asked, patting his brother on the shoulder._

_'It's terrifying, really.' Thor sighed._

_'You'll pull through.' Loki assured._

_Thor made a decision in that moment. He stood up on one of the tables and got everyone's attention. 'My first act as king is to appoint my brother Loki as the official Captain of the Guard of Asgard, an honourary position.' Thor boomed and people cheered. Loki looked shocked as Thor dragged him up onto the table. Captain of the Guard was for the King's most trusted warrior and the act touched Loki's mischievous heart._

_'Let us drink!' Loki grinned and pulled his brother down to sit and have some mead. A few drinks in, both brothers were slightly tipsy. 'Brother, lady Sif looks your way.' He pointed to said lady._

_'I am far off taking a queen.' Thor mumbled into his mead. 'Besides, she is looking at you.'_

_Loki frowned and Sif stalked over to them. Specifically, Loki. 'Congratulations on becoming the guard.'  She said through gritted teeth._

_His eyes widened in realisation. Sif wanted to be the Captain of the Guard. At least she was being gracious about it. 'I will strive to do was well as you.' Loki said courteously._

_Sif looked mildly surprised at this and walked away to her friends._

_*****_

__

_Tony had been doing quite well. He'd gotten more money from his barista job. The pretty woman, Pepper, showed some more interest. The withdrawal symptoms were gone and Tony generally felt on top of the world._

_Naturally, the world had to kick him back down again._

_He'd been thrown out of his squat, he'd been mugged by a fellow homeless person and Pepper had been away for a while._

_Tony trudged along a dark street, only seeing the occasional car. So imagine his surprise when, in the middle of the night, he saw someone being mugged in a dark alley way. 'Hey!' Tony shouted and the mugger looked up at Tony. 'Anyone ever told you you're a dick for mugging people?'_

_'Rich people deserve it.' The mugger retorted. Tony cursed. He barely sounded like he was out of high school._

_'Tony?' A familiar female voice whimpered. Pepper._

_'Hey, dude, let her go.' Tony said. 'She doesn't deserve it. She works for a company that helps homeless people.'_

_Silently, the mugger let go of Pepper who ran over to Tony and hugged him tightly._

_'What's your name, kid?' Tony asked._

_'Peter Parker.' He said then ran off into the night with alarming speed._

_'My hero.' Pepper smiled and Tony felt butterflies in his stomach._

_*****_

__

_The students were buzzing with excitement and Miss Maximoff did her best to calm them. Even their parents were chattering curiously about who they thought would be the speaker._

_'Who do you think it's going to be?' Clint asked a random woman with ginger hair who looked smartly dressed._

_'Oh, I don't know.' She said with a small smile. She was with a man who looked like he'd lived on the streets for a long time and only recently cleaned up. At least he didn't act like a hobo or anything. 'This is Tony, a good friend of mine.'_

_'How do you know each other?' Clint asked._

_'I helped her out of a tight spot.'  Tony said._

_'So is your child here or...?' Clint trailed off._

_'Oh, no, i'm just support for the speaker.' The woman said. 'She's my best friend.'_

_'So you know who she is?'_

_'Of course. I'm not going to tell you though.' She said simply._

_'If everyone could take their seats.' Mr Vision said, officially getting everyone to settle down. 'Now, may I present, our guest speaker, Lady Y/N/L/N.'_

_*****_

__

_You entered the classroom, hoping to god that you didn't look as tired as you felt. 'Hi kids.' You said and they responded with an enthusiastic welcome. 'Do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart forming shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings. Until, eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. And never let anyone else tell you otherwise.'_

_You always found talking in front of kids was more terrifying than talking in front of adults. But you were talking in front of kids and their parents, but it seemed like everyone liked your speech because it took Mr Vision a fair few minutes to get everyone silent again._

_'I think we've got enough time for some questions?' He said._

_One of the adults put up their hands. He was stood closely next to Pepper and you'd only been briefly introduced to him before being whisked away. 'Yeah? Hi. I was wondering how you deal with people that discriminate you because you've been born into privilege.'_

_You considered this. 'Well, it is hard to understand wealth and privilege when you're born to it. But I try my best and sometimes that isn't enough.' You shrugged._

_One child put up their hand. 'Do you have magic powers?'_

_'I don't quite have magic, but I can do a few tricks.' You telekinetically lifted a pencil on her desk and let it drop again._

_'Did you know Captain America?' Another boy asked._

_'I did.' You nodded. 'He was one of the bravest men i've ever met.'_

_Question and answer time stopped after abut ten questions and you went around talking to some of the children. They were adorably innocent and you wondered when you had stopped being a child and turned into an adult._

_*****_

__

_'I WANT TO SPEAK TO Y/N!' Bucky roared, shoving past agents with guns._

_'She's not here!' The man with the eyepatch insisted. 'Just calm down, Sergeant Barnes!'_

_'YOU CAN'T KEEP ME HERE!' Bucky growled. 'LET ME SPEAK TO HER!'_

_The men surrounding him, with their guns, raised them higher and looked ready to shoot._

_'Everyone put your weapons down.' A firm voice said. Her voice. The agents looked uncertain, but did so anyway as she broke through the ring of agents. 'What's wrong, Bucky?' Y/N asked calmly. Bucky's nerves started to be soothed by her presence._

_'I saw Steve...' Bucky sobbed, a sudden weakness falling over him. 'But it's not possible...'_

_'Bucky.' She took him gently in her arms. 'Show me where you saw him.'_

_He shook his head but after some more gentle coaxing, he led her to where he'd seen Steve._

__

_Bucky averted his eyes, face screwed up from emotional pain as he saw his best friend's body and broken shield there._

_Steve's eyes were still open, filled with disbelief and pain. Y/n walked over quietly and knelt next to him. 'Steve.' She said quietly. Steve's eyes flickered over to her. 'How long have you been waiting?'_

_His head moved so he could look over at Bucky. '...end of the line.'_

_'You can move on, now, Steve.' She said soothingly, placing a hand on his forehead. 'Bucky's free from Hydra control. You can rest.'_

_Steve's ghostly form vanished in an explosion of light and all the while, Bucky clung onto y/n for dear life._

_*****_

__

'Doll?' Bucky shook you gently and your eyes flew open. 'You feeling okay?'

'I'm fine, I just had a weird dream.' You shook your head. Sometimes, your powers let you see possibilities regarding fate and they were never nice. 

'We were just talking about who would win out of Steve and Thor.' Tony said.

'Depends what the contest is.' You shrugged.

'We were thinking a drinking contest.' Natasha offered.

'Oh, then Steve.' You said, as if it were obvious. Thor looked mortally offended. 'What? Steve can't get drunk, so obviously he'd win.'

'I am gifted in the art of drinking.' Thor huffed. 

'Be that as it may, you can still get drunk.' You said and began to get up. 

'What do you need, Doll? I can get it.' Bucky said quickly. 

'Uh, no i'm good.' You said, patting Bucky on the cheek. 

'No, really, it's fine. I can do it.' He shrugged and was already starting to get up. 

You rolled your eyes. 'Buck, I need to go to the toilet! Unless you wanna pee for me, I need to go before my bladder bursts like a waterballoon.' You huffed and Bucky blushed and helped you up. 

 

You waddled to the bathroom and smiled fondly at hearing the other Avengers teasing Bucky for being so smitten. The breaking of water could easily be mistaken for a No. 1 so it was no wonder you didn't notice your water breaking. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Selena Gomez just as a generalisation...


	8. That's What A Miracle Looks Like?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of FRIENDS lines in here, simply because it fit. IT doesn't belong to me, no matter how much i'd like it.

It was not every day that you saw a Tony Stark wheezing and hyperventilating.

But apparently, the day that Bucky left for a short mission after your horrible 'What If' vision, was that day. Tony had only gone back to his lab for a short period of time before he came running back looking like he'd just been attacked by the Hulk. You gave a look of concern from where you were curled up on the sofa with a book. 'What's wrong?'

Tony just shook his head and just tried to get control of his breathing, still clutching some sort of file. You sent out some calming waves and Tony sighed and straightened from his vaguely hunched position. 'My old rommmate from University called and he's a real-' Tony, ever the gentleman, tried to find the right words.

'Bastard?' You offered cheerfully.

Tony nodded. 'Yeah, thank you. He's really hard to deal with and I can barely spend ten minutes with him without trying to rip his head off.'

'As Iron Man?' You clarified.

'Nope.' Tony grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Your eyebrows shot up into your hair. Just as you were about to say something, Steve entered with a stack of pregnancy books piled up to his chin. Steve had insisted on learning everything there was to know, as you and Bucky had already named him one of the Godparents. 'What happened?' Steve asked, gently putting the books on the counter. Tony opened his file, bored.

'I'm dead. My old room mate is coming to visit. He insists on meeting up.' Tony sighed and collapsed into a chair, tossing the file onto the floor.

Steve hummed thoughtfully. 'Which one? The rude one, the spoiled one or the one that bites people?'

'The one that bites people.' Tony said.

'Yikes.' Steve shuddered.

'What do I do?' Tony whimpered. 

'Tony, i'll help you.' You said. 'And i'm sure Steve will help too.' You shot a pointed glare, to which he frowned.

'Actually, i'm a bit busy.' Steve said, chancing a glance at Tony.

'Tony, can I borrow your phone?' You asked politely and Tony threw it to you. Steve frowned at what you were doing as you searched through Tony's contacts and found, 'Douche that Bit Me'. As Steve tried to advance on you, you held out a hand to stop him with telekinesis. You smirked as he growled but immediately answered the person at the other end. 'Yes, hi? I'm Tony Stark's secretary, Emily Turner. He would like me to ask whether it would be acceptable whether Steve Rogers joined you and Tony at your meet up... Really? That's brilliant!... Alright, both Tony and Steve will see you in half an hour.' You hung up, voice slightly sore from using an American accent. 

Tony laughed as Steve glared scowled. 'Hell is filled with people like you.'

'Look, calm down.' You said soothingly. 'I'll call just after you get there and say that Pepper and Sharon have been in an accident. That will give you two an excuse to leave early.'

Steve sighed and nodded at the plan. 'I really don't want to risk punching him.'

'Then don't.' You shrugged. A dull pain, nothing much for you to notice, flared up and went away again. 

'Before we head off, do you need anything?' Tony asked.

'Do we have any pringles, sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese?' You asked innocently, getting a slightly strange look from the two avengers. 'What? I wanted a sandwich.'

'Probably.' Steve went off to check and Tony sat down beside you, arm slung around your shoulders.

'Thanks, y/n.' Tony smiled. 'I'm really glad we didn't lose you.'

'You had to give me an island in compensation.' You pointed out.

'Yeah, well, it was worth it. Besides, I get to be one of the godfathers to this little tyke.' Tony patted your stomach. 

You grinned and let your head fall onto Tony's shoulder. 'You're going to spoil my child, aren't you?'

'Hell yeah!' Tony half-shouted. 'Can we know whether it's a boy or girl yet?'

You shook your head. 'Nope. You don't even get to know if it's twins or not, so butt out.'

Tony whined petulantly. 'Pleeeeease?'

'I couldn't find any blue cheese.' Steve said, walking back in with a plate and a sandwich. 'But I did find some stinking bishop from the fields of Tuskany.' 

You raised an eyebrow, a motion Tony copied. 'Since when do we have that in my kitchen?' He asked.

'Thor went on a cheese-bonanza.' You remembered. 'Pietro was not happy when he found maggots in his mac and cheese.'

 

'So this guy bites people and he's late.' Steve noted, glancing around the restaurant. 

'Yeah, well, he was never known for his punctuality.' Tony shrugged.

'Can I ask you something?' Steve said. Tony nodded, drinking from his glass. 'How do you know when to... you know... with a girl?'

Tony raised an eyebrow. 'Like, sex?'

Steve blushed furiously. 'Announce it to the whole world, why don't you?' He hissed. 'But yeah.'

'Haven't you two been together for five months?' 

'Kind of.'

'And you've never...?'

'Not really.'

'No hot make out sessions?'

'Well, we held hands a few days ago and kissed each other on the lips as a goodbye.' Steve offered.

Tony felt like banging his head against the table. 'Oh good lord.' 

Steve seemed frustrated, because he hit the table angrily. 'It's only because I can't get aroused with her!' Then he realised what he said and sank lower into his chair. 

'Is it like... technical difficulties?' Tony asked carefully.

Steve glared. 'That's not it. It's... Sharon.' Tony shifted uncomfortably. 'Maybe I should get her something.' Steve sighed. 'Think she likes pearls?'

'Oh, you want something serious. Y'know what you should do, you should get her one of those um, barium enemas. Those are dead serious.' Tony grinned. Steve's lips tightened again into a tight line.

'I'll just get her pearls.' Steve sighed.

'No, no, you can’t, you can’t, okay, you can’t, you can’t buy her pearls, you just can’t, you can’t, you can’t.' Tony rambled, feeling the effects of the alcohol

'Why not?'  
  
'Oh God. Uh, okay, here’s the thing, this is the thing, okay, the thing is...'  
  
'What is the thing?' Steve snapped.

'I saw Sharon and the guy who changes the lightbulbs making out in a corner at a party a few days ago.' Tony said hesitantly. 'I had just walked away from you and you were having a blast! Y/n was judging an arm-wrestling comp between Bucky and Thor and you just looked so happy.' 

Steve stared at Tony. 'Why the hell would you lie to me?'

Tony looked flabbergasted. 'I'm not! I-'

'Sharon would never do that!' Steve growled. 'You don't know her like I do!'

'Tony, darling! It's me, Barnaby!' A drawling, very fake British accent reached their ears. Both Avengers turned to see a relatively handsome light-haired man with a light blue shift with too many buttons undone, jeans that looked like they were cutting off his blood supply and a fancy armani jacket. He sat down between Steve and Tony. 'So, did I tell you about how I managed to score a contract between two fabulously famous companies with very rich endorsements?'

'No, I don't believe you did.' Steve said through gritted teeth while Tony got steadily more intoxicated at the late time of three in the afternoon.

'Ah, well, I don't know where to start.' Alistair said thoughtfully.

 _Preferably near the end,_ Tony thought.

'But I should show off this wonderful new cologne.' He stuck out his wrist to Steve who shuffled back in shock. Steve made a gesture of sniffing but looked vaguely disgusted. 'Can you guess what it is?' Alistair asked gleefully.

'Musty?' Steve offered.

'It's not real! It's just me!' Alistair said like it was the new word of god.

Steve's phone rang and he answered it. 'Oh my god, y/n, are you alright? Of course, i'll be right there!' He stood and put his phone away. 'I'm sorry, I have to leave. My _girlfriend_ was in an accident.'

'Was Pepper with her?' Tony asked hopefully.

'Nope.' Steve said firmly and left the restaurant. 

 

'Thanks.' Steve grumbled, slamming the door behind him as he entered the living room. 

You looked around at him, currently eating cereal from a bowl carefully placed on your belly. 'It worked then?'

'Like a charm.' He sighed.

'What's wrong?' You asked, concerned.

'Do you think Tony would ever lie to me?' Steve asked suddenly.

Slightly affronted, you considered this. 'Not without good reason. Why? What did he say?'

'He said that he saw Sharon kissing a guy.' Steve said quickly.

Something clenched in your stomach. You'd caught Sharon twice before and she begged you not to say anything to Steve, not wanting to break his heart. Reluctantly, you'd agreed. But you claimed that if Sharon didn't tell Steve after two weeks or make it right, you'd tell him yourself. 'Sometimes you need to trust others' judgement.' You said. You put the bowl in the sink and hugged Steve hen led him over to the sofa. 

'Do you think he's right?' Steve asked in a small voice, sounding positively broken.

'I know.' You said quietly. 'I caught her twice, and I gave her two weeks to make it right or tell you. Otherwise, i'd tell you myself.' 

'It's true, Mr Rogers. I can show you the security footage if you so wish.' FRIDAY offered.

'Not helping Friday.' You growled.

Then Tony and some smarmy prick you'd never seen before walked in. 'Steve? Can I talk to you outside?' Tony asked pointedly. Steve glanced at you, then obliged quietly.

'Hi, you must be Alistair.' You said politely.

'Oh goodness, you must be Sharon.' The douche said, clutching a hand to his chest. He had a plainly fake British accent that made your skin crawl. 'You look positively ghastly.'

A vague sneer crawled across your face. 'Well aren't you a treat.'

 

Tony and Steve made nice, fortunately. Unfortunately, Steve and Sharon got into an arguing match involving tears, yelling and slaps. Finally, Tony told Sharon to leave or he'd get his gauntlet. She stomped off angrily and you observed innocently from the corner where you were reading Vonnegut.

'I'm sorry, Steve.' Tony sighed.

'It's okay.' Steve shook his head, wiping his eyes. 'I guess it wasn't meant to last.'

A sharp pain spiked through you and, clutching the armrest, you breathed it through. Wanda looked at you nervously. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine.' You assured. 'The baby's just fussing, is all.' 

A few minutes later, it happened again and Wanda was starting to look very worried. Even Tony and Steve had come over, anxious. 'Look, it's just Braxton hicks, okay? I'm fine!' You protested at their anxious flapping.

'You're not fine.' Pietro said, zooming over to you. 'I'm taking you to the infirmary.' Without your consent, he scooped you up and after a moment, you were on a bed in the infirmary with Pietro looking rather proud of himself. 

'I don't see what all the fuss is about.' You sighed.

'Let's determine that, shall we?' Helen Cho said, walking over to you.

 

The mission was going wrong in all sorts of ways. 

For one, Natasha was done and out for the count, wounded not fatal but bad enough to send her back to the Quinjet. Sam was struggling against some soldiers who'd taken down his wings. Only Thor and Bucky were still fighting. 

The mission was simple. 

Recover the Vibranium stolen from Wakanda and return it to T'Challa. What they hadn't anticipated was the Vibranium already used to create a weapon that they were having a hard time taking down. Bucky was anxious to get back to you, but his desperation wasn't helping his fighting as he took down soldier after soldier. 

'We can't finish this!' Thor shouted to Bucky. 'They are an endless swarm!' 

'We will finish this!' Bucky retorted, breaking the neck of another soldier.

'We would need a miracle at this point, Soldier of Winter.' Thor reasoned. He looked to the Heavens. 'Father! We need assistance! We are overrun!'

A beam of light struck the earth nearby and a figure landed in a crumpled heap. He stood, brushing off dirt. 

'That's what a miracle looks like?' Bucky frowned, hardly impressed. 

'Loki?' Thor said, hardly believing his eyes. 'What are you doing here?'

'Why so serious?' Loki said then grinned, donned his armour and joined the fight. The god of Lies was their tipping point and half an hour later, they were back on the Quinjet. 

'Why did you help us?' Natasha asked, grimacing from the pain.

'I received some mild persuasion.' Loki said, almost bored and picking at his nails. 

A call came through, revealing Tony looking bedraggled. 'Sarg, y/n went into labour god knows how long ago and it's getting more painful.'

'Is y/n alright?' Bucky asked anxiously, shoving past Loki who was looking at the screen with interest.

'What? No, I meant for me!' He held up his black and blue hand. 'Look what she did to me!'

'She's pushing a human out of her body.' Natasha defended. 

'She wasn't happy when she heard you were still on your mission.' Steve commended from somewhere off to the side.

'Get back here soon, Barnes.' Tony said gravely. 'And Loki?' The god looked at Tony. 'If you try anything, i'll set the Hulk on you.' Loki blanched and nodded. 

 

'How does it look?' Steve asked, you still gripping Steve's hand as another contraction ripped through your body.

Tony cringed from where he was, down by Helen who was keeping an eye on you. 'I'm meant to be looking?' He whined. Steve rolled his eyes. 

'Y/n, tell me about the names you've decided.' Steve said, trying to distract you.

'Uh, well, for a boy? I was thinking Rowan, but then Bucky... God where is Bucky?' You growled. Steve made a squeak from you tightening your grip.

'He's heading back now.' Tony assured.

'Bucky suggested Dean for some show he got hooked on about monster hunting.' You scrunched up your face from the pain. 

'Oh my god! I'm here!' Pepper said, bursting into the room. 'I'm so so sorry!' She took your hand and you hurriedly assured her it was okay. 

'Steve just asked what names we were considering.' You said, taking a deep breath and lying back against the pillows. 'Bucky suggested Solomon after my dad.' 

'Your dad's name was Solomon?' Tony asked, surprised. You shot a glare.

'And if it's a girl?' Pepper asked.

'I was thinking about Kaila or Kalysta.' Pepper rubbed your back soothingly. 'Bucky wondered a-about Madelaine or maybe Angela.' 

'How much more has she got to go?' Pepper asked Helen. 

'She's about ready.' Helen said. 

'I have to wait for Bucky!' You insisted.

'I don't think this baby's going to wait.' Helen said sadly.

Thankfully, you didn't have to wait for Bucky because he burst into the room a few moments later looking tired and worn out, a cut on his cheek, but still alive. Behind him followed Natasha, Sam, Thor and Loki. Bucky immediately went to your side and the others crowded around you. Loki stood by the window, chancing side glances at you.

Helen stood up. 'Alright, there are ten people in this room, there's about to be one more! Anyone who's not the husband, out!' 

Everyone filed out obediently, wishing you luck and you noticed Loki vanish but you could sense he was still there. Nevertheless, you pushed when Helen told you to and eventually, the sound of a baby's cry of displeasure. You let out a sob of relief and fell back against the pillows, still clutching Bucky's metal hand which was dented slightly. Bucky smiled and pressed a kiss to your temple. 'You did it, doll.' He whispered into your ear, then went to cut the cord. 

'You can't really rest yet.' Helen said as another nurse took your baby away to be cleaned.

'What?' You scowled then gave a low whine as the urge to push again flooded through you. Blindly, you grabbed Bucky's hand and pushed again. 

'There's number two.' Helen said proudly as the second baby didn't start crying, but was fussing. 'He's a quiet one.'

'He?' You looked to Bucky who smiled.

'Was he the one we had a scare about?' You asked. Helen looked questioning. 'His cord got stuck around his neck, but I think his sibling moved it out of the way when it did a particularly big star jump.'

Bucky chuckled. 'A hero, then.'

'They're both heroes.' You defended.

'They're both boys, by the way.' Bucky said. 'We have two precious boys.'

'What do we call them?' You asked.

'Perseus.' Bucky said and you tried to hide your surprise. ''Cause he's the only hero that got a good ending.'

You smiled. 'Fair enough. I like that.' You bit your lip as your other, more quiet son rested quietly in your arms with Perseus in Bucky's. 'And this little guy?'

'What do you think?' 

'He feels like a Caelan.' You finally decided, after a long pause. 'We're both decided on middle names, yeah?'

Bucky nodded. 'We'll introduce these two later, after you've rested.' You scooted over and Bucky sat down next to you. While Bucky was distracted with Perseus, you glanced over at where Loki stood. You mouthed, 'Thank you' and he grinned when Perseus pooped some sort of black stuff all over Bucky who made a face.

 

The Persuasion of Loki:

_'To what do I owe the pleasure?' Loki asked serenely, standing in his stupid hidden batcave. You were struggling to maintain your form while in bloody labour, but made do._

_'I am close to giving birth and you are going to finish the fight that my husband can't and you're going to do it now!' You growled, stepping close to Loki with a glare on your face._

_Loki backed away slightly, intimidated. 'Why would I do that?'_

_You narrowed your eyes, tilted your head._

 

 

_A beam of light struck the earth nearby and a figure landed in a crumpled heap. Loki stood, brushing off dirt. His ribs ached and Loki tried to pop his shoulder back into place. Respect for others didn't normally come easily to Loki, but after that, he definitely respected you. If not slightly scared of you._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! I got Loki in! He's nice in this, btw, seen the error of his ways bla bla bla and hiding out in a batcave doing whatever Loki does.  
> Is Stony a possibility?
> 
> A thanks to TheShalluraSunshineChild for their kind words ૮|⎚͟ل͜⎚૮|


	9. You Had One Job...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some angst, but there isn't explicit detail of gore just enough to imply.

For almost five hours straight, Percy had been wailing at the top of his lungs for the world to hear. Caelan had been a perfectly quiet little angel in his cot, sleeping soundly with a stuffed bear Natasha had given the twins.

_Y/n had been called away to do something only she could do, apparently, according to Fury, but she left some bottled breast milk for the twins and for Bucky to look after them. She assured him that he would be fine at taking care of the twins, while Bucky was downright terrified. Once y/n had sneaked away quietly, the twins remained silent for an hour or so in which Bucky caught up on some sleep._

_Then Tony and Steve thought it would be a marvelous idea to try and sneak in to see their godsons. Bucky reacted naturally by pulling Tony into a chokehold and swiping Steve's legs from under him, causing him to topple over. 'Bucky, it's us!' Steve said, getting to his feet again. Bucky released Tony who coughed and spluttered. Tony's coughs couldn't be heard over Percy's wailing._

_He picked up the crying baby and tried desperately to soothe him. 'Why did you sneak up on me?' Bucky hissed._

_'We just wanted to see the little tykes.' Tony mumbled._

_Bucky rolled his eyes and rubbed soothing circles on the baby's back. He did a quick sniff to see whether the kid's diaper needed to be changed and staggered from the smell. 'What does this kid eat?' Bucky complained as he set to work changing his son._

_'I don't think he likes being changed.' Tony helpfully pointed out._

_'We're nearly done, aren't we?' Bucky said, doing the finishing touches and scooping the wailing child back up into his arms._

_'We're gonna go.' Steve said but Bucky glared._

_'You can't leave me now! You caused this!' He growled._

_'Technically, you and y/n caused this.' Tony pointed to Percy._

_'What else can I do?' Bucky sighed, still trying in vain to get his son to stop crying._

Many of the Avengers had stopped by, wondering why the kid was crying. Wanda and Nat took a shot at trying to calm him down but Percy remained vocal to the extent of making Vision's synthetic eardrums ring. 'That kid really has a set of lungs on him.' Tony said and Steve nodded, looking rather harrowed by the constant crying. 

'Did it work?' Steve asked hopefully, after Percy's cries became quieter then stopped.

'No.' Bucky said and the two sat on the bed sagged slightly. 'He just stopped to throw up.' When Percy went back to crying, Bucky resumed bouncing him gently. 'I've tried everything! I've burped him, I've tried to feed him, I've changed him, i've done everything in that damn book and nothing!' He kicked away the 'Parenting for Dummies' Tony had bought him.

'There's something here.' Steve said, squinting at one of the parenting books. 'Gently rock sway your child from side to side to mimic the motion of the sea.' He shrugged.

'I'll try anything at this point.' Bucky began swaying Percy somewhat awkwardly. When that didn't work, Bucky asked FRIDAY for the fortieth time when y/n would be back. 

'Y/n claims to be close to killing everyone in the meeting, indicating they are no closer to solving the problem.' FRIDAY reported.

'Can you send her a message?'

'Of course.'

'Ask her what I could do to get Percy to sleep.' Bucky really resented at that moment that you were actually good at your job, because that meant you were on high demand. Apparently, maternity leave meant nothing to those higher up in the pecking order. 

Steve had fallen asleep on the bed, width ways. Or perhaps he was just trying to pass the time until Percy actually fell asleep. Then Caelan, who had woken up a few hours previously but remained quiet, started making some need known. Steve, eternally frustrated, opened his eyes slowly.

'He's probably hungry or needs to be changed.' Bucky groaned. 'Can one of you do it? My hands are kind of full here.'

Steve and Tony glanced at each other. 'I'll go get a bottle.' Steve sighed and hauled himself out of bed and out of the room before Tony could protest.

Tony set to work on changing Caelan's diaper. He managed to clean him and put a new one under his butt, then noticed the talcum powder on a shelf. Whenever he stopped shaking the bottle, it never really seemed enough. It certainly was enough when Bucky turned and shouted, 'TONY!' 

He looked down and saw the mini mountain of powder. 'Oops.' 

'Please tell me that's talcum powder.' Steve said, re-entering with a bottle in hand. 

'Yes, thank you.' Tony sighed and shook the powder off the poor child and putting him back in the diaper.

Steve and Tony squabbled over who would feed Caelan before Tony conceded and Steve sat down with the bottle and Caelan in his arms while Tony pouted in the corner. Caelan didn't really seem to like it, because he whined and shied away from the bottle. 

'No luck?' Bucky asked. 'Caelan's usually the hardest to feed, but the easiest to get to sleep. Percy loves food but he didn't want anything when I offered him one.'

'Sir, y/n has replied. She suggests playing the track on her ipod labeled 'Lullabies'. If that doesn't work, try walking around outside in the garden.' FRIDAY said.

Bucky snooped around for y/n's ipod and found it hooked up to a stereo system. He found the one labeled lullabies and pressed play. The songs there didn't really consist of lullabies, but he supposed it depended on who you asked. Eye of the Tiger played and while Percy didn't stop crying, he did stop squirming. 

Tony offered to try feeding Caelan and didn't have much more luck. Then Loki and Thor entered, curious to say the least. 

'You can't calm your own children?' Loki mused and Bucky shot the trickster a glare.

'You try if you're so confident.' Bucky snapped and gently handed Percy over to Loki who looked surprised but accepted him anyway. 

Everyone was surprised when Loki started singing. ''The sky is dark and the hills are white  
As the storm-king speeds from the north to-night,  
And this is the song the storm-king sings,  
As over the world his cloak he flings:  
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;"  
He rustles his wings and gruffly sings:  
"Sleep, little one, sleep."  
  
On yonder mountain-side a vine  
Clings at the foot of a mother pine;  
The tree bends over the trembling thing,  
And only the vine can hear her sing:  
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;  
What shall you fear when I am here?  
Sleep, little one, sleep."  
  
The king may sing in his bitter flight,  
The tree may croon to the vine to-night,  
But the little snowflake at my breast  
Liketh the song I sing the best,--  
Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;  
Weary thou art, anext my heart  
Sleep, little one, sleep.''

Only a few muffled whines came from Percy and Bucky glanced at Steve and Tony. 'Have I gone deaf?' Natasha asked, who was passing and she stuck her head into the room.

Loki looked incredibly smug, as after five hours it was no small feat. 

 

When y/n finally returned a few hours later, looking frustrated and tired, Bucky nearly sobbed with relief. 'Percy wouldn't stop crying!' He said, arms wrapped around her shoulders.

'Didn't you give him a bottle?' Y/n asked, confused.

'We did. Caelan too.' Steve sighed. 'It didn't work very well.'

'Did you warm them first?' Y/n asked, as if it were obvious. The slow-dawning realisation that they had to warm the bottles first crept onto Bucky, Steve and Tony's tired faces. 'So they haven't eaten anything all day?' She sighed. 'Alright, i'll take care of them.'

'I'll make you some crumpets.' Bucky said seriously and left.

 

Bucky returned with a plate stacked with crumpets and marmite to see y/n and the twins playing on the soft rug, looking happy and cheerful. 'I think you're the baby whisperer.' Bucky said and y/n rolled her eyes.

'All you had to do was heat the milk.' She sighed and shook her head.

'Loki helped as well.' The super soldier said. Y/n looked pleasantly surprised. 'He sang some Norse lullaby that had Thor bawling like a baby.'

'His mother probably sang it to him.' Y/n said. 'I only met Frigga once, but she is a wonderful woman.'

'What was the meeting about, by the way?' Bucky asked, getting more comfortable as Caelan tried to crawl over his lap.

'It was an argument over some accords that the government wanted the Avengers to sign.' Y/n explained. 'Fury wanted me to be the Avengers' representative. He was afraid if he sent Tony or someone else, they'd end up insulting the President or something.'

'That does sound like Tony.'

'And most of the others.' Y/n acknowledged. She looked down at Percy who was pulling himself up in her lap, grasping her shoulders. She blew a raspberry, clutching him gently as he giggled and squirmed. 

'These two are fraternal, aren't they?' Bucky said, tickling Caelan's sides.

'I'm guessing so.' Y/n shrugged. 'Perc here has a thick tuft of black hair.' She rain gentle fingers through it. 'And Caelan has similar hair, but it's hard to tell.'

Bucky smiled an adoring gaze at his family and his luck.

 

Something woke Bucky, but he didn't know what it was. He sat up and stiffened when he saw who was standing in the doorway to the twin's nursery. 

Bucky looked to his left and saw y/n wasn't there. His heart started to pound. 'You're not real.' Bucky whispered, his voice hoarse. His doppleganger didn't respond, merely continued to stare. 

'Отчет миссии.' He finally said and Bucky squeezed his eyes shut. 

He got out of bed and Bucky noticed his clone's metal arm clench.

Said hand was smeared with blood and he didn't react when Bucky's horrified gaze drifted from his hand to his face. Bucky pushed past the assassin and felt his stomach clench and a horrifying scream be pulled from his throat. The nursery, which had been so delicately painted with love and care by y/n and the other Avengers was ruined. The furniture was scattered everywhere, picture books thrown all over the place. The double cot in ruins. And y/n...

Bucky fell to his knees by her side, barely containing his rage and hurt. Painted on the walls were the words, 'Приветствую Гидру'. 

'Цели были недееспособны.' Bucky's double said from the doorway. 'Цель завершена.'

Bucky advanced on his double, eyes burning with rage while his own eyes stared back at him with a blank expression. 'Why did you do this?' Bucky demanded. 'TELL ME!' He yelled.

'Я хороший солдат. Эмоции - это то, что мне не разрешено иметь. Кроме,' The copy said. 'I didn't do this. You did.'

Bucky looked down at his hands to see them and his upper arms drenched in blood. He yelled, but his voice was muffled by the face mask secured tightly to his face. His copy was gone and Bucky felt panic and distress. Just then, Natasha, Steve and Tony ran in and stopped short at the sight of Bucky in the Nursery.  He fought his friends against his will as they subdued him. 

Steve even dragged Bucky over to his dead family and forced him to look. 'LOOK AT THIS! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! ONLY A MONSTER COULD DO THIS!' Steve snarled.

'I think that's enough.' Said a familiar voice and Steve froze and turned around. Y/n stood there in the doorway, perfectly alive. But she was also there, dead on the floor. 'You let your nightmares get away with you, Bucky.' She walked over to him and Steve stepped away. She refrained from looking anywhere but at Bucky as she gently removed his mask. 'You're not a monster, Bucky. And I think it's time for you to wake up.'

 

'How is he?' Steve asked.

You glanced at Steve, Caelan and Percy still in your arms. Bucky lay on the bed looking pale and like death. 'This night terror was induced by something powerful. Powerful enough to get past me.' You sighed. 

'What happened in it?' Captain America shifted uncomfortably. He still looked tired from all the crying Percy made him endure, but some rest and coffee did the trick.

'Something I never want to see again.' Was all you said, holding the twins closer. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poem/lullaby by Eugene Field
> 
> Отчет миссии- Mission report  
> Приветствую Гидру - Hail Hydra  
> Цели были недееспособны. Цель завершена. - Targets were incapacitated. Objective complete.  
> Я хороший солдат. Эмоции - это то, что мне не разрешено иметь. Кроме, - I am a good soldier. Emotions are something I am not permitted to have. Besides,


	10. What Happens in Your Quarters Stays in Your Quarters (Looking at you, Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What managed to get past your defenses? Turns out, it's not quite what you'd expect.

'How long has it been?' Steve asked, standing beside you. Your gazes were fixed on James Buchanan Barnes who was sat by the window. 

'Since the attack?' You sighed. 'Too long.'

'Shouldn't he be back to normal by now?' Steve frowned, evidently concerned for his best friend. 

You shook your head. 'That's not how the human mind works, Steve. we'll never be able to truly understand the workings of the mind and my heart tells me we're not meant to.' You looked fondly over to where the twins were playing with each other on the play mat. 'If scholars, scientists and philosophers succeeded, then we wouldn't be in this mess.'

Steve considered this. 'Have you tried working with Wanda?'

'If I'm honest?' You grimaced. 'I'm a bit scared to. From here, I can sense his sanity is balanced on a razor blade and making him feel safe and comfortable is the only thing we can do.' 

'How are the twins holding up?' Steve asked.

'Percy just wants to cheer his daddy up, perhaps get some cuddles. I don't think he gets that Bucky's just... not in there.' You tried to stop yourself from shedding any tears. 'Caelan knows more than we give him credit for. He's less cheerful than before the Night Terror.'

'Maybe you should try talking to him?' Steve offered.

'Maybe you should try talking to Tony.' You snapped then cringed at how that sounded. 'I'm sorry, I've just tried and it hasn't worked.'

'Why did you say I should talk to Tony?' Steve frowned.

You raised an eyebrow. 'Well, Tony is your normal go-to guy for comfort and advice when Bucky's...' 

'I guess you're right.' Steve sighed. 'I hate it when you're right.'

'You must hate me all the time then.' You shrugged innocently. Steve chuckled and left you to your family. 

You took a deep breath and walked to where Bucky was sat, still staring out of the window. You tried not to make it seem like you were sneaking up on Bucky, as the last person to do that (Thor) ended up with forty five stitches. 

You took Bucky's hand gently as you knelt down next to him. 'Bucky?' No response. 'Bucky, it's me. It's y/n.' Bucky's eyes met yours very slowly, but there was no real emotion behind it. 'The boys miss their daddy. We all want you to come back, Bucky. The boys, Steve, Tony, me, Natasha. Everyone.' You sniffled and stood. 'I love you.' You gently stroked Bucky's cheek, to which he didn't respond to, and moved away to take care of Percy who was complaining about a messy nappy. 

 

While Bucky was virtually unresponsive, he did sleep beside you each night. You took to cuddling him gently, comforted by his constant presence. So when you were awoken by an unknown source in the middle of the night, you started to panic when Bucky wasn't there. 

There was a figure in the nursery that you could see if you squinted, so you sat up and turned the lamp on. You could see Bucky standing there in the dim moonlight by the double cot. You briefly wondered if he did that every night. He was holding the twins in his arms, just staring blankly down that them. Both Caelan and Percy were sound asleep, so that was a relief. 

For a while, you were content to just stand there as Bucky held the twins almost protectively, possessively, but with such tender care it was almost heartbreaking. Then Percy started crying, probably because he was lonely. As a result, Caelan woke up but didn't cry. He merely fussed. You didn't want to break the beautiful moment with Bucky and his sons, so you decided to sing your song from the doorway. 

'Some words they can’t be spoken only sung  
So hear a thousand voices shouting love  
There’s a place, there’s a time in this life  
When you sing what you are feeling  
Find your feet, stand your ground  
Don’t you see right now the world is listening to what we say?

Sing it louder, sing it clearer  
Knowing everyone will hear you  
Make some noise, find your voice tonight  
Sing it stronger, sing together  
Make this moment last forever  
Old and young shouting love tonight...' 

Percy stopped crying, Caelan stopped fussing and both relaxed back into sleep. 

After a while, Bucky set the twins back into the cot just around the time you would normally wake up, perhaps a bit before. Of his own accord, he walked back to the bed and laid down. You had been watching from the bed, your heart so close to beating out of your chest. Once he lay down beside you, you gladly embraced him and wondered whether he would acknowledge the tears falling from your eyes onto his shoulder. 

 

It was agreed that you and the twins would never be left unaccompanied, so as Tony, Steve, Nat and Wanda went off on a mission, Bruce and Vision stayed with you. 

'I find children puzzling.' Vision said as Percy used his hand as a rattle against Vision's thigh.

'How so?' You asked, amused. 

'How is it they can express their wants and desires without consequence, but adults cannot?' Vision asked.

'Social norms, I suspect.' You guessed. 'A grown woman isn't expected to have a tantrum in the middle of the supermarket, is she?'

Vision shrugged. 'I suppose not.'

'Why do you ask?' 

Vision was about to speak, but was cut off by Bruce telling Caelan not to stick that radon bar into the acid bath. You got up and lifted Caelan away and he pouted, but soon relaxed against your chest. 'Wanda has been talking about the _future_.' Vision said, like it was a deadly enemy they were talking about.

'Oh.' You smiled. 'Well, you're at that stage in your relationship.'

'Is it not the social norm to be married before any plans for children can be made?' Vision questioned. 'No, please don't poke my eye.' Vision reprimanded Percy gently who had tried to poke Vision's eye with his own hand.

You snorted. 'Vision, do you really think that I was planned? A lot of children aren't.' 

'Wanda has shown me various leaflets for adopting agencies.' Vision mused. 'But I don't know if I would be capable of doing everything an average father could do.'

'Like what?'

'Teach them how to ride a bike.'

'You don't know how to ride a bike?' You raised an eyebrow.

'No, I do not.' Vision huffed. 'Go to their parent-teacher meetings.' He offered.

'They aren't compulsory.' You pointed out.

'I can't-'

'Vision.' You cut across him. 'Let's focus on what you can do that other average fathers can't.' Vision nodded. 'You can fly. You can kick arse. You can help them with their homework because you're literally a genius. You'll be fine.'

'Mrs Barnes, there is a disturbance in yours and Mr Barnes' quarters.' FRIDAY announced. 

'Look after them.' You said firmly to Bruce and Vision after placing Caelan in a bouncer. 

 

You stepped out of the lift and opened the door to see a stereo-typical sorceress woman holding a blade to Bucky's neck. 'How nice of you to join us, dear.' The woman said with a velvety voice.

'Who are you?' You demanded.

'They call me Amora.' She said. 'But you will soon call me wife.'

Your eyebrows shot up into your hairline. 'Uh, that's not happening.'

Amora chuckled, as if she were talking to a slightly stupid child. 'Of course it will, silly one. I will take this disgusting specimen away from your pure heart, and we will rule the spirit world and all worlds together.'

You tried to remain calm, say something rational, but the only thing that came out of your mouth was, 'Who the fuck dropped you on your head as a kid?' Perhaps not the most eloquent thing to say, but Amora didn't seem particularly bothered for she just laughed.

Amora waved her hand and the television in the corner showed the security footage of Vision and Bruce fighting off some dark creatures and the twins were crying out of fear. Well, Percy was, Caelan was whimpering in distress. 

You moved forward, a murderous glare on your face, but Amora's eyes flashed gold and you were thrown against a wall.

'One way or another.' Amora said, walking slowly towards you. 'We will be together.' You winced at the pain from the blow to your head and Amora looked slightly concerned. 'I didn't want to hurt you, I didn't want it to be this way.' She gently touched your cheek, concern in her eyes and perhaps lust? You knocked her back with a wave of telekinesis and stumbled slightly.

'You're insane.' You growled. Amora raised a hand, presumably to chant something, but with a sharp turn of your head, Amora cried out in pain from her arm being broken from the force.

'Sargent Barnes.' Amora said and Bucky snapped to attention. 'Take my hand.' She held her unbroken one out and without much hesitation, Bucky took it. His skin started smoking and he grunted from the obvious pain he was in.

On the television screen, Caelan started crying. It was very rare that Caelan cried, but when he did, it was always for a very good reason. Whenever it happened, Bucky would bend over backwards to fix the problem he loved his boys so much. 

'Bucky!' You cried, eyes flashing. _Buckybuckybuckybuckypleasepleasepleasepleaseiloveyoupleaseiloveyoubuckypleasepleasebucky_ -

'Be mine and this will be over.' Amora growled.

'You stay away from my family.' Bucky growled, skin still smoking. Amora's head snapped towards him, shock over her face. She stumbled back but that didn't stop the sweet, kind, charming man shifting back into the Winter Soldier for just a second and ruthlessly snapping Amora's neck with his metal arm. 

On the television screen, you could see the dark creatures Vision and Bruce were fending off had dissolved into dust. Amora herself crumbled into nothing and you hoped that was the last you had seen of her. 

'Was she seriously in love with you?' Bucky asked and you glared, even though you were happy to see him back to normal. He grinned, showing he was going to have fun with some teasing. 'I saw inside her mind. Pretty kinky for a sorceress.' The winter soldier fucking giggled. 

You rolled your eyes and went to check on Bruce, Vision and the twins. You pointedly ignored his comment from beside you of, 'She has a riding crop but she _doesn't_ have a horse.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song, 'Sing', by Gary Barlow


	11. Desiccated Mushrooms Get You Slapped

As Bucky was experimented on by Hydra, his physiology was much more advanced but that didn't stop Steve finding Bucky asleep on his feet with and cradling one of the dumbbells like a kid. 

'Buck? You okay?' Steve asked, shaking Bucky lightly. The ex-winter soldier yelped and dropped the dumbbell onto his foot. Steve pulled it off and set it back on the rack as Bucky hopped around clutching his foot. 

'Don't scare me like that!' Huffed Bucky.

'Why are you so tired?' Steve asked, helping Bucky hobble to a bench. 

Bucky glared. 'You would be too if you had two eight month olds that could not have more different needs.' Steve handed him a bottle of water and grimaced at the dark circles under Bucky's eyes. 'Ever since that whole Amora thing, Caelan's been more clingy.' 

'How's y/n holding up?' Steve asked.

'You know how whenever y/n comes back from a mission and she's only had about six hours of sleep?'

Steve nodded. 'She goes apoplectic whenever someone irritates her slightly.'

'She's running on three hours constantly.' Bucky sighed and Steve's eyes widened.

'Yikes.'

'Yeah. I've been trying to help reduce the amount of times she has to get up but, you know, i'm not exactly properly equipped.' Bucky gestured vaguely to his chest. 'And y/n won't touch formula with a ten-foot barge pole.'

'What about collecting some... stuff in bottles?' Steve hesitated and Bucky rolled his eyes at Steve's reluctance to say the words 'Breast Milk'. 'They have pumps for that, don't they?'

'She hasn't exactly had much time to do that.' Bucky pointed out. 'Plus they've started to give her a rash.'

Steve's eyebrows shot up. 'That's too much information.'

At that moment, Loki and y/n came in. The twins were securely in y/n's arms, though she looked dead on her feet. 'Hi.' She smiled weakly. 'Can you...?' She gestured with Caelan who was gurgling and reaching out for Bucky. Said ex-assassin scooped Caelan up and blew a raspberry on his cheek. 

'I've come to inform you that despite y/n's best efforts, Amora has not perished.' Loki said. 'But she is weak and y/n managed to send her straight to the throne room of my father where she is being tried and will be sent to prison for her crimes.'

'Any chance she'll escape?' Steve asked.

'Not likely.' Loki said. 'Besides, I doubt she'll go after your family again, Barnes.' He nodded to Bucky who nodded in return. 'I need to go. Thor wanted to introduce me to something called Pop Tarts.' Loki shrugged and vanished. 

They chatted for a bit longer before y/n started yawning profusely, which Percy seemed to find very amusing. 'Is Percy laughing at your pain?' Tony asked, sauntering into the room. Then he noticed Steve and they both became very tense and awkward. 

[ ](http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiikZ6wpPHaAhVCe8AKHbgHCesQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmrwgifs.com%2Ftony-stark-taken-back-by-bruce-banners-self-destructive-comment-in-the-avengers%2F&psig=AOvVaw2ARCDePajXjG9GkGtQBOS3&ust=1525702865968865)

Bucky glanced at y/n who shrugged. Steve opened and closed his mouth trying to think of something to say. 'Breast pumps give y/n a rash.' He blurted and winced when y/n cuffed him around the head. 'I deserved that.' Steve mumbled. 

 

'Y/n? Could you help me carrying some of these?' Pepper asked, gesturing to two boxes of blueprints. 'Tony wants them for a new project.' You nodded and yawned. The boxes floated five feet in the air and you followed Pepper to Tony's lab. 'I was wondering whether you wanted us to take the twins for a weekend or something?'

'No, Pep, it's fine.' You protested but Pepper fixed you with a stern glare. 

[ ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjZy_-vp_HaAhWJI8AKHacMAwMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fgifs%2Frobert-downey-jr-marvel-iron-man-11HkV2a5oApuwg&psig=AOvVaw0udaNFF8779y3_Gv4ZKkS1&ust=1525703688871306)

'Y/N Y/L/N, you and Bucky are dead on your feet. You're in no shape to keep going like this as you're no use to anyone.' Pepper said and opened the door to Tony's lab where you dumped the boxes on the floor.

It wasn't a bad idea, you just had no idea how Pepper would cope. The two boys were a handful for anyone. 'You'll need someone to help you.' You eventually said.

'I'll blackmail Tony into doing it.' Pepper said cheerfully. 'And Wanda will take any chance to hang out with the twins.'

'I'll suggest it to Bucky.' You said. Then your phone rang and you answered with a yawn. 'Hi Buck, we were just talking about... The wipes? They're in the top cupboard... Or the bottom drawer... Maybe the kitchen cupboard... They could be in the fridge, though... Don't ask me how they got there! I don't think Thor properly knows what the fridge is actually for. Caean has a bit of a rash at the moment and make sure Percy doesn't pee on you. He's started doing that when you're changing him.' You paused. 'I told you to watch out! Why do you think I wear goggles from time to time? Oh, Loki's with you? Say hi to him for me.'

Pepper rolled her eyes and snatched the phone from your hand. 'Bucky? This is Pepper. This is the plan, you and y/n are going to go away on a romantic weekend in which you two will rekindle your sex lives and hopefully not make another baby as you're already so tied up with the twins. Maybe one of you could be tied up? But i'm getting off track. Us at the compound will take care of the twins and give you regular updates. You can go to the island Tony got y/n.'

You took back your phone. 'Hi Bucky. Yeah, I know Caelan's being clingy after what happened but they're driving us up the wall. It's only for a weekend, okay? Cool, i'll pack and then we can go in a bit.'

 

Bucky managed to get the twins to sleep, but they were laid across his chest like paperweights you really didn't want to move. Y/n walked quietly around the bed where he was laid, packing things into two different bags. 

'Ready to go?' You asked, putting the bags by the door. 

He gestured to the twins. 'How am I getting out of this?' 

You smiled and laid down beside him, turned on your side. 'How did we get so lucky?'

Bucky smiled in return, his gaze soft. 'I guess the universe is just finished in throwing crap at us.' 

'Eloquent.' You laughed. 'But i've seen the alternatives to this and none of us are happy. Not truly anyway.'

Percy wriggled in his sleep, causing you to tense, but he didn't wake up so you could breathe again. There was a soft knock on the door and Pepper stuck her head in. 'The jet's here.' She said quietly. 

By some miracle, you managed to put the twins in their cot without waking them. Pepper stayed with them to make sure they didn't cause a fuss when they woke. By midday, you were on the jet to the island Tony bought for you as incentive to stay, not that you needed any. 

[ ](http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj0tcaarfHaAhUkAsAKHZuuDiEQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funcage.com%2Fblog%2Ftop-10-most-beautiful-islands-in-the-world%2F&psig=AOvVaw3GwsHuh7nJrduem9gjh26T&ust=1525705211421054)

 After sleeping for twelve hours straight, leading yours and Bucky's body clocks to be completely messed up, you spent some time in the sun before Bucky's libido got the better of him. You were glad the only people on the island were you and Bucky as the noises could make anyone's ears bleed but you simply didn't care.

On the satellite phone, you got a few updates from Pepper, mostly complaining about the UST between Tony and Steve but some about how the twins were being angels. 

 

'What am I going to do?' Steve asked, frustrated and beating the hell out of the punching bag. 

[ ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjhguPp2_HaAhVLCMAKHRAhAFwQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F27654985183926114%2F&psig=AOvVaw0g8OkERO3UJqy5C_grc4BG&ust=1525717786979275)

'I'm not exactly good at the whole advice thing. May I interest you in a snarky comment?' At Steve's glare, Loki blanched and cleared his throat. 'You say nothing between you and Tony is the same.' Loki mused. 'After you two had a 'heart to heart'?'

'I don't appreciate the use of those air quotes.' Steve growled. 'But yeah. How am I supposed to fix this? You're smart, crafty! Help me!'

Loki raised an eyebrow. 'You do flatter me, Rogers. Suggest a problem you have that can only be solved by Stark. Or he's the only one that can comfort you.'

Steve paused in punching the bag. 'If that doesn't work, i'll swap you for this punching bag.'

'Fair deal.' Loki shrugged. 'Stark is coming. Do try not to mess this up, hmm?' The god of mischief vanished and then Tony entered the training area.

'Hi, Capsicle.' Tony said, obviously awkward. Steve stepped away from the punching bag. 'Loki said you wanted to ask my advice on something?'

'Uh, yeah.' Steve unwrapped his hands from the bandages, trying to think on his feet of a problem. 'It's to do with the government... and uh...'

'You okay?' Tony asked, showing genuine concern. 

'The government wants to buy my body.' Steve blurted and his eyes widened at what came out of his stupid mouth.

Tony frowned. 'The government wants to buy your body?'

Steve nodded. 'Yes. When I last met with the government they said that they wanted to use my body to experiment on and I don't know what to do.' He put on his best miserable face.

Tony looked furious. 'What? How on earth could they do that?' He yelled, rage dancing in his eyes. 'I mean, I thought it was something to do with those Accords they want us to sign.' 

Steve internally slapped himself. 'Yes. Well, that would've been much simpler.'

 

'Thank you for your advice on the whole Tony thing.' Steve said, sitting down a space away from Pepper as Loki went around making a sandwich with... was that Pop Tarts?

'The Tony thing?' Pepper asked.

'What did you tell him?' Loki asked.

Steve was suddenly very interested in his fingernails. 'That's not important, but I really thing we're going to not be awkward anymore.' Pepper nodded and went back to some paperwork and Steve couldn't help but think she was a saint.

 

***The White House, President's office***

The President was running through some different things that needed to be signed with his secretary and his vice when he noticed the Billionaire standing in the doorway looking furious. 'Can I help you, Mr Stark?'

'You think you can just _buy_ Steve Rogers' body?' Tony Stark hollered.

 

'Thank you so much for that weekend.' You said to Pepper holding the twins in your arms. 

'You're welcome. You look much more rested.' Pepper smiled and tickled Caelan's chin and he giggled. You, Pepper, Bucky, Steve and Loki were in the main room chatting.

'The bags under your eyes are almost gone.' Steve pointed out to Bucky. 

'Y/n, I didn't know we have two copies of Matilda?' Bucky said, sorting through their CDs. 

You raised an eyebrow. 'They're both yours, Buck.'

Bucky blushed and Steve sat up straighter when Tony sauntered in, a proud expression on his face. 'Hey Cap, I took care of your problem for you.' He said and gave a wink. 'Let's say they're not going to bother you anymore.'

Steve blanched and stood. 'Wait what? Say more, Stark! What do you mean you took care of it?'

Tony shrugged. 'Well, I went to the White House and to the President's office and told him politely YOU DON'T GO AROUND BUYING PEOPLE'S BODIES SO SHOVE OFF!'

You glanced at Bucky then Steve. ' _What_?' You, Bucky, Pepper and Loki said in near unison.

'Nononono! The Government didn't actually want to buy my body! I made that up!' Steve sad, starting to pace and panic.

'Then why did you tell me they did?' Tony demanded.

'Because then we would talk again and it wouldn't be awkward!' Steve shouted.

'And you couldn't have thought of anything else?' Tony yelled in return.

'Well, he told me to!' Steve pointed at Loki who leaned away slightly.

'Well, Bucky has two copies of Matilda.' Loki snarked and vanished. The twins were starting to get distressed at all the yelling so you stood and started to bounce them, trying to calm them. Bucky was not impressed at Stark and Rogers upsetting his kids. 

'Oh god they're going to take everything away from me!' Steve stressed. 'What am I going to do?'

[ ](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi4yY3Z5PHaAhVKDsAKHcY-C4sQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F455004368584310962%2F&psig=AOvVaw3XH_FI86ML50RktSxRgN9t&ust=1525720167042985)

You shrugged. 'You could always sell your body.'

Steve glared at you.

 

'Mr Rogers, have a seat.' The President of the United States said and Steve shakily sat down opposite one of the most influential men in America. 'My colleague John here is here as a witness.' Steve gulped audibly. 'If I, or any of the government implied that we wanted to buy your body to experiment on... I am sorry. When I asked what you were capable of when we first met, I did not mean I believed I was capable of buying your body. I would like to be very clear that it is your body and not mine to purchase.'

Steve nodded, still very pale from nerves. 'As long as we're clear.' 

He got the hell out of there as fast as possible.

 

'How did it go?' You asked from the table where you were colouring with the boys.

Tony put down his scotch and was on full alert. 'They don't want to kill you, do they?'

Steve huffed a laugh and slumped down next to Tony. 'Nah. They gave me a small sum 'cause they're so glad i'm not suing them.'

'How small is a 'small sum'?' You asked curiously.

Steve shrugged. 'Two and a half billion?' Tony choked on his scotch and Steve had to thump him on the back. 'Just so long as I understand that it is not a down payment on the transaction of the purchase of my body or any other body I may inhibit.'

You laughed. 'Percy and Caelan have drawn you some pictures.' You pushed the pictures towards Stark and Rogers. 'The blue one is you, Steve, and the red and yellow one is you, Tony.'

'They're amazing.' Steve smiled, watery eyed. 'Who's that?' He pointed to a man in black standing next to picture-Steve. 

'That is daddy.' You said and tickled Caelan's stomach and he laughed.

'What's me?' Bucky asked curiously and peered over Steve's shoulder. 'Wow. The likeness is uncanny.' He grinned.

'It looks like a desiccated mushroom.' Loki said in passing and a yelp could be heard courtesy of you smacking the god of mischief.

[ ](http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwil6-D95PHaAhUDC8AKHcoxDPcQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fadataraxia.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F75481313450%2Fthe-relationships-of-loki-laufeyson-so-its-been&psig=AOvVaw3ZTD8Kw-4jd74p0D1MOoqD&ust=1525720235749937)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stony? Thoughts?
> 
> P.S. I considered putting Sexy Times into this, but I literally have no idea how to write any Sexy Times scenes. IT was would basically go; He put tab A into tab B. Tab 3g slots into tab 8h.


	12. For the First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Throws chapter into the air like confetti and runs*

Every couple has its squabbles, its spats, its petty arguments and its full-on rows with each other. 

In all the time you and Bucky had been together, you'd never gone past petty arguments. You, or Bucky, had never had to sleep on the sofa before. You'd never shouted at each other at the top of your lungs.

Welp, there was a first time for everything.

 

You were carrying Caelan and Bucky was carrying Percy in scarfs that wrapped to hold your baby close to your chest. 

In the busy shopping centre, you and Bucky had split up to try and find Tony a gift for his birthday, which was proving to be harder than expected. What do you get someone as a present who already has everything? Wandering around a watch shop, you spotted Bucky frowning at a display of emoji cushions. 

'Let's go see what daddy's doing.' You said to Caelan, who gurgled in response, and walked over to Bucky.

Before you could get there, a model-like woman approached Bucky. 'Aww, she's so cute!' She cooed and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

'He's a boy.' He corrected.

'Oh, well he's still so cute all the same.' She gave nothing short of a flirty smile. 'I'm Stella van Allen.' She held out a hand, like she expected Bucky to worship it or something. Then again, she probably did. 

'Uh, hi.' He said warily without shaking her hand. 

'So, I notice you don't have a wedding ring. Are you a single father?' Stella asked patronisingly. Without waiting for an answer, she continued to talk. 'I'm sure i'd be a great mother for this little one.' 

You scowled. 

1) Bucky didn't have his wedding band on because he had just come back from a mission and he did not take his wedding ring on missions.

2) That little one already has a perfectly good mother.

3) Percy seemed to take to her like a duck to fucking water.

Caelan started wailing and you turned your attentions to him, trying to calm him down. Even then, you heard little miss perfect say loudly, 'Wow, some women really need to take care of their kids properly. How do we know the kid's even hers?'

With baited breath, you waited for Bucky to respond. For Bucky to say something in your defence. When you heard nothing, you turned and left the shopping centre. 'FRIDAY? Are any of the Avengers near me?' You asked the AI.

'Mr Rogers is passing.' FRIDAY announced. 'Shall I ask him to pick you up?'

'Please. Tell him i'm waiting near Hollister.' You said then started walking in the direction of the clothes shop. 

'Y/N!' Bucky called after you and you stopped, teeth grinding together. 'Why did you leave? I looked around and you were gone.'

You turned to him. 'Why don't you give me my son and go back to Stella, hmm?' You said coldly.

'What? No!' Bucky adjusted Percy slightly. 'Why are you getting so worked up on me talking to someone?'

'Did you see how she spoke to you? How she spoke about me? Or were you just too caught up in her looks?' You growled. 'She is everything about women that I can't stand!'

Bucky snorted. 'What? Willing to be a mother?'

An old fire that you didn't even remember lighting suddenly flared up again, and Caelan whined in distress. 'I beg your pardon?'

'Whenever you get the chance, you offload the twins onto me! You ask me to do everything even after i'm so damn tired after work!' Bucky yelled, his voice raised. 

'Why are you resenting time spent with your sons?' You demanded. 'You always complain about not having enough time with them!'

'Because I didn't want them in the first place!' He shouted and your blood ran cold. 'We weren't even married and then you said you were-I wasn't ready!'

Caelan had stopped whimpering and just looked up at you with tearful eyes. It felt like there was no one but you and your family, the blood rushing through your ears blocking all other sounds. Percy, whose bottom lip had been quivering for the duration of the argument, burst into tears and Caelan followed suit. 

Then you noticed Loki standing there, very awkwardly, with Steve staring at both of you.

'Buck?' Steve said, voice breaking slightly. 

'Give me my son.' You said coldly. Bucky passed him over carefully and you walked over to Loki and Steve. 'I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us.' A glare from you made Loki nod and Steve merely glared at Bucky. 

 

Spending the night crying was not fun, especially since the twins were getting used to the time zone changes. They kept fussing, perhaps from not liking seeing you in distress, perhaps just from discomfort. 

'If you want, I can take care of them while you get some sleep.' Loki offered. You had asked a favour of him and he had granted it. He had taken you and the twins back to your old house in England. When you thanked him, and said he could leave if he wanted, he stayed because he 'owed it to the twins' apparently. 

'No thanks.' You shook your head. 'I need something to keep me occupied.' 

'Do you mind if I try some of your jam?' Loki asked, picking one from the shelves. 'It looks very delicious.' He twisted off the top and took a taste before you could stop him. Loki gagged and spat into the sink. 'Eurgh, what was that vile creation?'

'It's a charm.' You said drily. 'Made from frogspawn, holy water blessed by five nuns and the skull of a bird.'

'Why would you have that?' Loki asked, appalled. 

'It's for the spirits. It helps attract them here.' You shrugged. 

Loki was about to respond, but was cut off by a knock at the door.

 

Bucky hid for two days in his and y/n's rooms and no one even tried to coax him out.

He had hurt y/n, that was enough. Steve still hadn't actually said what had happened, but the Avengers could take a damn good guess. 

Finally, after three more days, Natasha had had enough. She pounded on his door until Bucky told FRIDAY to let Natasha in. 'You son of a bitch! What do you do?' She snarled.

'I said something I didn't mean to.' Bucky said miserably. 'And I wish I could rewind time but I _can't_.'

'Explain what happened slowly and i'll try to help.' Natasha said. 'I don't like y/n being upset, and I certainly don't like anyone who hurts her. But I like you because you're the other half of the twins. Now, talk.' Bucky explained slowly and Natasha listened. When he finished, Natasha sighed and shook her head. 'Y/n is a forgiving person at heart, but her trust is something that can't be regained after you break it. With time, maybe. But considering you're her soulmate other half whatnot, you'll probably have to grovel for a month, and sleep on the couch for two. But before I get you to take a shower and brush your teeth before you go anywhere, I need to know. What would happen if you lost the twins?'

Bucky looked her dead in the eye. 'I would die inside.'

'That's the answer I wanted.' She gave a small smile and left.

 

While on an English train to a small town that was closest to the address Natasha gave him, Bucky watched some home videos on the smart phone Steve gave him. All of them made him smile. One was of y/n cussing at Tony who was wedged in the wall. He had tried to sneak in and see the twins and y/n had reacted quickly and threw Tony into a wall.

Another was of y/n and Thor. He made some snide remark and y/n raised an eyebrow, plopped a sleeping Caelan on Thor's chest and walked away. Thor's eyes bugged out as he tried not to wake the sleeping child and he complained when he found he needed to pee.

The last was of you holding one of each twin's hands and helping them take steady and small steps. When they reached a certain distance, you praised them with cuddles and kisses.

'You have a beautiful family.' A middle aged woman who was sat next to him said.

'Thanks.' Bucky said. 'They are beautiful.'

 

Loki opened the door to reveal James Buchanan Barnes standing there sheepishly. 'Should I let him in? I can change him into a toad if you'd like.' Loki offered.

You smiled slightly and shook your head. 'No, thank you. I'd quite like to hear his apology.' 

Bucky cleared his throat. 'I never, never meant to hurt you or the twins. I would die before I left anyone hurt you. If i'd known how hurtful that woman's words would be for you, then i'd smack her round the face and be done with it. I love you and the twins more than words can describe and I should never have said those things. Never. It took some deep thinking and a pep talk from Natasha sometimes we look for one treasure and we find another with even more value. You are a wonderful mother, wife, daughter, i'm sorry I didn't appreciate you more.' 

Before you could say anything, you heard a sniffle. You and Bucky looked over to where Loki was misty-eyed and all choked up. 'That was so beautiful.' 

'Anyway.' You shook your head slightly. 'I accept your apology, Bucky. But it's not me you have to apologise to. It's them.' You gestured to where the twins were watching from the play mat. 'They have missed playtime with daddy.'

Bucky smiled, engulfed you in a tight hug, a kiss, then pulled you over to play with the twins who gurgled with joy. 

 

All the Avengers congregated in the main room. It was Tony's birthday-eve and even Tony didn't know what was going on. 

He looked around and saw Bucky with the twins in his lap, but you were nowhere to be seen. 'I wonder what this is about.' Pepper mused.

'It can't be anything rude, the twins are here.' Sam pointed out.

Tony pouted. 'Damn, I was in for a show.'

Steve rolled his eyes and nudged Tony in the ribs. 'Just be patient, okay?'

'Hi guys.' You walked in from the hallway. Everyone fell silent. 'So, as the whole world knows, it's Tony's birthday tomorrow. And we were struggling to find a gift for the man who has and can have everything and anything he wants. So we thought we'd give you memories.'

The tv screen flickered on and the home video began to play. Some were obviously from cameras stuck on people, showing happy and fun times that you all went through. A few were Visions memories of the events. There were snapshots from when Sam tried to beat Thor at a drinking contest and failed miserably. The final screen was a picture of every member of the Avengers family. 

 


	13. Soulmates and nutsacks.

'I have a question.' Sam said to the group of avengers eating dinner. "Do you guys believe in soulmates?'

'Oh yeah.' Rhodey nodded. 'I believe there is one person for you in the whole universe and they're perfect for you. And the only way to find them is to stop looking for them. That's why i've stopped looking for Selena Gomez. But, you know, she'll find me.'

'Not especially.' Bucky shrugged. 'I think that there are certain people who are more suited to you than others rather than being perfect for one person.'

Sam grinned. 'Good. Because I think i've found y/n's. HE's at my gym and I swear he's her other half!' Wanda looked mildly interested from where she was chewing on some pasta.

'What's he like?'

'Tall, naturally styled hair.' Sam said.

Bucky scowled. 'You know it sounds like you're describing me, right?'

Sam ignored him. 'He works as a vet.'

'Oh my god, y/n loves animals.' Rhodey said.

'Older?' Wanda asked.

'Naturally.' Sam chimed. 'He's very outgoing and extroverted, but he's mature enough to know when to be childish.'

'Huh. It's sad they never had a chance to meet.' Rhodey actually looked disappointed.

Bucky's scowl deepened. 'Luckily, the guy she settled for and has children with can’t hear what you’re talking about.'

Sam raised his hands in defense. 'Look, maybe i'm wrong but he just seems so right for her.' Insecurities began rushing into Bucky's head which, over the time of his and your relationship, he'd managed to talk himself out of.

 

Steve and Tony had taken the twins for a few hours, allowing you and Bucky to escape to have some coffee, or in your case, tea. 

You'd been talking for about half an hour, trying to place what was wrong with Bucky as he didn't seem quite right, when Sam entered the shop with a man behind him. 'Hi guys.' Sam said, grinning as he walked over. 'This is Michael.' He gestured to the guy with sandy blond hair, bright green eyes and a bright's smile. 

'Hi.' You said politely while Bucky squinted at Sam who was mouthing something. 

'Nice to meet you.' Michael said.

'So, how do you know Sam?' You asked.

'We go to the same gym.' Michael said. 'Yeah, we became friends after I decked another guy for bragging about how many barely legal girls he had gotten into bed.'

'That's very noble of you.' You said, impressed. 'So, what do you do?'

'I work as a vet.' Michael said. 'It's very rewarding.'

'It must be.' You smiled, not oblivious to Bucky glaring at Michael in the slightest. 

'I'm going to get some coffee, anyone want some?' Michael offered.

You stood. 'I'll go get an Earl Grey.'

Bucky watched as you and Michael walked over to the counter, chatting animatedly about god knows what. 'What the hell are you doing?' He demanded, glaring at Sam.

'Nothing! I swear to God I didn’t know you guys would be here! And the good news is you didn’t believe in soul mates. So…' Sam shrugged, sitting down closer to your chair.

'I believe in tall, handsome strangers who hit on my wife!' Bucky growled.

'They’re just talking, and y’know what? Just because I think they’re soul mates doesn’t mean anything’s gonna happen.' Sam reasoned.

'Sam, good work.' You said, walking over with another cup of Earl Grey.

'Really?'

'Yeah, he's great.' You smiled. 'I have to go to a meeting with Fury, but we'll meet up later, okay?' You kissed Bucky quickly then hurried off.

Bucky glared at Sam. 'Don’t worry, we’ll find you someone else.' Sam said sympathetically.

'Uh, Bucky, is it?' Michael said carefully, coffee in hand. 

'James.' Bucky corrected, scowling.

'Sorry, James then. Could I talk to you in private, maybe?' Michael looked so hopeful Bucky didn't have the heart to say no. He sighed and nodded. 

They walked to the nearby park that Bucky liked to take the twins to. 'What did you want to talk to me about?' Bucky asked.

'My name's not actually Michael.' He said and Bucky clenched his metal arm. 'I'm from another universe where... where avengers don't exist. And i'm just here to give a message but I don't know who it's for.'

'You're yanking my chain.' Bucky frowned. 

'Not really. A friend of mine told me to follow the trail he set out? The trail being with each correct person I meet, the 'glow' gets stronger.' Not Michael said. 'And when I met y/n, your wife? The glow lit up like the Fourth of July.'

'What's the message then?'

'Uh, the Titan's coming?' Not Michael shrugged. 'The connection was a bit patchy, so I may have got that wrong. I also heard nutsack of a chin, so maybe the message is wrong.'

 

You were playing with the twins when Bucky approached. 'Hey.' 

'Doll, do other universes exist?' Bucky asked. You looked up from the half-eaten baby treat Percy was trying to give to you and squinted at Bucky. 

'They do. Why?'

'That Michael guy said he was from one and said that the titan with a nutsack chin is coming.' Bucky shrugged, sat down near the playmat and Caelan instantly started to try and crawl onto his lap. 

'Okay.' You said slowly. 'Did someone spike your coffee?'

'What? No.' Bucky sighed. 

'Buck, what's wrong?' You asked, scooting closer.

'Sam thinks you and Michael are soul mates, and I don’t believe in that kind of stuff. But then you two totally get along.' He grumbled before blowing a raspberry which makes Caelan giggle and try and pull Bucky's hair. 

'You don't believe in soulmates?' You asked, vaguely surprised.

'Nah, but i'm sure Mr Vet does.'

'I don't believe in soulmates either.' You pointed out and Bucky looked at you.

'Really?'

'No. I don’t think that you and I were destined to end up together. I think that we fell in love and work hard at our relationship. Some days we work really hard.' You smiled.

'So...' Bucky hesitated. 'You don't want to run off and live with Michael with loads of abandoned puppies or something?'

'Not really. Besides, who'd take care of you three?' 

Bucky grinned. 'I love you.'

'I know.'

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than i'd like...


	14. Mississippi and Turkish Delight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Timestamp aaaaaall the way back to while you were pregnant

Bucky was trying not to panic, but he doubted anyone would blame him if he did start panicking. 

Five and a bit months pregnant.

Your pregnancy cravings were becoming weirder and wackier and Bucky had learned that his male anatomy was safer if he didn't question the watermelon and marmite sandwich at five in the morning or something along those lines. The list went on, but included in that was hot chili peppers, strawberries and wasabi mixed together to form a salad of some kind. Buying the wasabi at three in the morning was worth it, because at lunch, Thor found it and believed it to be a mild sauce of some kind. He ended up chucking his plate out of the window and guzzling down water like a man starved of water. 

After a long day, Bucky fell into bed curled around you, feeling rather content with his life. No one good had ended up dying, so that was a bonus and Bucky managed to save a few children. Sleep came rather quickly, but it left rather fast too as Bucky stirred and found the bed empty. 

It wasn't uncommon, with your semi-frequent insomnia, but Bucky had freaked out the first time it happened. The compound was awoken by Bucky tearing yours and his rooms apart, searching for you, when in reality you'd just gone to make a sandwich. Bucky sat up and rubbed his eyes. There was a chance you were peckish for something Tony didn't stock so he felt he may as well get up. 

Bucky made his way in the darkness and FRIDAY turned the lights on, which made his eyes burn but adapt eventually. There was a light on in the kitchen which Bucky made his way to, trying to banish sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the oven clock and saw it was half three in the morning. 

He nearly had a heart attack when he saw you perched on the counter, peering into one of the higher cupboards Thor stored his treats in. 'Y/N! What are you doing?' Bucky hurried to help you down.

'I was hungry.' You shrugged. 'And I thought Thor might have what I wanted, but I don't think he does.' 

'You could've just asked me.' Bucky protested, somewhat hurt.

'I know, but I already ask you to do so much and I know i'm not the easiest pregnant woman to be married to so...' You sighed and Bucky enveloped you in a tight hug. 

'Believe it or not, I like it when you pester me to get you things at random hours of the morning.' Bucky said. 'It makes me feel... useful.'

You frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, we can't exactly share growing a baby, can we? You're doin' most of the leg work, doll.' He pulled away. 'Now, what were you after?'

 

A vaguely familiar man approached the counter with a few bars of Turkish Delight in that lurid pink packaging. Steve, the cashier of the new 24 hour store, scanned the bars and turned back to the man. 'Anything else?' He asked.

'Erm,' he fidgeted. 'Can you break a $100 bill?'

Steve's eyes widened at the unusual request. 'No, sorry, we opened earlier and haven't got the chance to go to the bank.'

The man groaned. 'Oh god, do you know where I can get any change? I need these urgently!'

Steve considered him. Due to the fact that he was in the store at four in the morning and buying one of the least-liked candy bars in the store, he came to a conclusion. 'Those aren't for you, are they?' He shook his head. 'Your pregnant wife sent you out at four in the morning to buy these?' He nodded. 'For the love of god, man, go get these to her! You can come back and pay later!'

With a grateful smile, he left quickly and Steve saw a flash of metal on his left arm. 

 

At a more reasonable hour, the avengers were having a breakfast of waffles made by Bruce who was a surprisingly good cook. 'So where's Bucky?' Steve asked, poking at the obscene mound of whipped cream on his waffle.

'Paying the cashier at the new 24 hour shop.' You said. 'He had to dip into Tony's 'Rainy-Day' fund in the swear jar, hoping to find some small change, and only found hundred dollar bills.'

All eyes fell on Tony who shrugged. 'Pepper started it, apparently I swear a lot so she made me put hundred dollar bills in to stop me.'

'Either way.' You huffed. 'The cashier took pity on Bucky.'

Clint began gushing about Nathan who was just learning to walk when you noticed Pietro doing something rather shifty, but Vision called him out on it first. 'Pietro, could you stop staring at Wanda's legs?' He asked, politely. Everyone else fell silent and Pietro flushed slightly. 

'More like stop staring at your sister's legs.' Tony pointed out.

'No, it's just you have a tan that I wouldn't expect you to get in this weather.' Pietro shrugged.

'Ah, yes, she got one of those tans you spray on.' Vision said and went back to reading the newspaper.

Wanda glared at him. 

'You got a spray on tan?' Pietro asked, incredulously.

'Vision once wore my underwear on a mission.' Wanda said spitefully and Vision froze.

'You too?' You asked, mildly surprised. 'Which ones?'

'Was it the red ones with black or the white ones with-' Natasha began but was cut off by Pietro.

'Lalalalalalala! There are some things I do not need to know!' He snapped and Wanda laughed.

'My black ones.' Wanda clarified and Vision groaned. 

'Must we?'

'You started it.' 

Just then, Thor stumbled into the kitchen and made his way to the stack of waffles uneaten and stuck a couple in the oven. He had never been the best with technology and the oven was causing him a lot of grief. He started hitting it rather harshly. 'Thor, honey, why don't you press it gently?' You suggested, feeling sorry for the poor oven. 

'I am pressing it gently, IT'S NOT WORKING!'

You sighed and flicked your hand and the oven turned on, humming gently. 

'Ah, there we go. It just needed some persuading.' Thor said happily and grabbed a mug to get some coffee.

'Anyway.' Wanda turned to Pietro. 'Here's the place I got my tan.'

Pietro squinted at the card. 'Oh, yes, I know this place. It just to be a sex-' He froze, everyone's attentions on him, mildly amused. '-education... shop.' He cleared his throat and stood. 'See you all later.' Then he whizzed off. 

 

The lift doors opened and two men entered, one with two guards and the other with a metal arm and a bag of groceries. 'King T'Challa.' Tony greeted. 

'Hi Buck.' You smiled and he stepped out of the lift to give you a kiss on the lips. 

'That was the most awkward elevator ride i've ever experienced.' He whispered to you.

'I'm sure it wasn't that bad.' 

T'Challa set himself down on a chair and the avengers moved over to the living area where he had sat down.

'We have much to discuss.' The King of Wakanda said. 'There have been sightings of a criminal in Wakanda and are making my people restless.'

'What do they look like?' You asked.

'Longish black hair,' T'Challa shrugged. 'We've created an image based on eye-witness accounts.'

He brought up an image on his fancy wrist watch thingy.  Everyone squinted at the small picture, but it was Thor who growled loudly. 'My brother, Loki.'

'You know him.' T'Challa stated.

'He tried to destroy New York.' Natasha pointed out. 'Everyone knows him.'

'He has evaded all attempts of capture. I suspected you to be the best to deal with it.' T'Challa said.

'Just tell me where he is and I will take him back to Asgard.' Thor said around half a waffle.

T'Challa grimaced and Okoye looked mildly disgusted. You turned to him. 'Thor? Remember we talked about manners while eating?'

Thor went slightly pink and swallowed. 'Apologies, lady Y/n.'

'He can be found by the river, most days.' T'Challa said. 'And perhaps we might stay for the night? The journey was long.'

'Of course.' Tony said. 'What's mine is yours, except the Iron Man suit and any of my toys in the lab.'

'We should get going.' You said suddenly, seeing how uncomfortable Bucky was. 'We're meeting one of my more... reasonable cousins for coffee and tea for me.'

You gave a small wave and pulled Bucky back to your rooms. 

Vision turned to Wanda. 'Did you still want to go to the X-Rated store or shall we wait until after lunch?'

Wanda sighed and turned to T'Challa. 'Vision once wore my underwear on a mission.' The King of Wakanda's eyebrows flew up into his hairline.

'How many more of those can I expect?' Vision asked.

 

You, Wanda, Pepper and Natasha were having a girly evening. While Tony teased you three, you threatened to braid his hair if he kept it up.

'How was your cousin?' Wanda asked.

'Better than the ones that visited at Christmas.' You shuddered. 'Steve's much more reasonable and less... abrasive.'

'Is he the one with dark hair and blue eyes?' Nat asked and you nodded. 'He's cute.'

'Well, anyway, you know how i'm adopted?' They nodded. 'Well, he found me a couple years ago and I didn't really believe him, but then we got a DNA test and he was right. We're cousins, on my mother's side. Turns out my mum's family was a god-fearing one and I was born out of wedlock so they put me up for adoption.'

'Have you found your real mother?' Wanda asked.

'Steve says that she, and the rest of my god-fearing family, died when the church they went to collapsed. They're thinking some act of revenge.' You shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. I'm not really sad.'

'Does he have any gifts like you?' Pepper asked.

You scratched the back of your neck. 'Erm, well, he's very strange in the way he thinks. Very blunt, sarcasm and metaphors go in one ear and out the other. When I asked him if he had any special talents to speak of, he said he could wiggle his ears and talk to animals so...' 

While in the process of painting Natasha's nails, Thor walked in and you glanced at him. 'Hi Thor.' You greeted before going back to painting Nat's nails.

'Ah, hello.' Thor looked mildly confused at the gathering before him. 'What is it you're doing here?'

'Painting each others nails.' Wanda supplied. 

'Y/n braided my hair!' Pepper pointed out to the complex braid on her head.

'That is most genius.' Thor praised. 'Would you do the same for me?'

You glanced at Nat who was hiding a smirk. 'Sure! Wanda, could you take over?' Wanda shuffled to be in the correct position to continue painting Nat's nails and you set to work on Thor's hair. He complained like a child as you were brushing it, but settled down after you stopped. 'You know,' You began, halfway through the braid. 'Wanda got some nice hairclips that would go really well with your braid.' By nice you meant one dollar for a hundred of them, but you weren't about to tell Thor that. 

'That would be most pleasing.' Thor grinned.

Five different flower and butterfly hairclips later, Thor's hair was in a complex braid with flowers and butterflies poking out of it. 

'Voila! All done.' You finished off tying the hairband and shuffled away. 

'Guys?' Pietro's weak voice came from behind the counter.

'Pietro?' Wanda stood up, concerned. 'How long have you been there?'

'A couple hours.' Her twin said. 'I have a problem.'

'What is it?' You asked. 'We won't laugh, it's okay.'

'I went to the tanning place.' Pietro poked his head up from behind the counter. His face was a deep, rather blotchy brown with a definite layer of orange behind it.

'The sun, by any chance?' Nat asked, trying her best not to laugh. 

Pietro scowled. 'Wanda, when you counted, how did you count?'

Wanda glanced at you. 'Uh, 1,2,3-' Pietro swore loudly in what you could only assume was Sokovian. 'Language, brother.' Wanda chided. 

'We promise to keep your secret, Pietro.' Pepper promised. 

Pietro was about to thank all of you when the lift doors opened and Tony, T'Challa, Okoye, Steve, James, Clint and Sam stepped out laughing about something until they noticed Pietro. Steve and James looked a bit like guppies, unable to find any words, but T'Challa was the first to speak. 

'Is this a regular custom?' He asked. 

'No,' Pietro grumped. 'This is the result of counting mississippily.' 

Tony burst out laughing, seemingly having less control that Natasha, and Pepper threw her shoe at her boyfriend. 'Tony! It's rude to laugh!' She chided. 

'Why does Thor have a braid?' Sam asked.

'It is wonderful, is it not?' Thor said excitedly. 

'Uh, yeah.' Sam said, glancing at the others. No one seemed to have the heart to say no to Thor, so you all went along with it.

'Where's Bucky?' Steve asked you.

'Hiding in our room.' You shrugged. 'When I tried to get him to let me paint his nails, he ran away like I was the plague.' 

 


	15. The 4th of July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based off a prompt I saw on FB specifically for Stevie

You quite enjoyed your beauty sleep, especially when you were dealing with two toddlers just learning to waddle on their own. So it didn't please either Bucky or yourself when Tony burst into the room yelling about cake and banners, waking the two toddlers who had crawled into your and Bucky's bed in the middle of the night. They were crafty little buggars but you didn't see much point in trying to stop them. They were like mini hot water bottles but ten times cuter. Besides, it was always funny seeing Bucky jerk awake because one of the twins (usually Percy) would crawl up and fart right next to his ear. 

'CAKE! STREAMERS! PRESENTS! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? I COMPLETELY FORGOT!' Tony yelled, pacing the length of your room nervously, wringing his hands.

You sat up blearily and saw Bucky struggling to pull himself into consciousness, several locks of hair sticking up in all sorts of directions. 

 

'Stark, what are you talking about?' You demanded, your voice scratchy from underuse. 

'Steve's birthday! It's July the 4th!' Tony huffed. 'And we haven't got anything planned!'

'Tony, go into the kitchen and put the kettle on. I'll be through in a moment.' You sighed. Tony nodded and practically sprinted out of the room. One glance at Bucky told you he'd fallen asleep again. Gently, you shook his shoulder.

'Mphh... wha-? Peanuts?' Bucky mumbled blearily before focusing on you. 

'Do you want me to take the twins?' You asked. He nodded sleepily. 'You've got mission training in an hour, so i'll make you some coffee.' Bucky groaned and buried himself deeper under the covers. 

 

'Na na!' Percy shrieked, far too perky for half six in the morning, as he toddled unsteadily into the kitchen and was whisked up into the arms of Natasha who tickled him and blew a raspberry on his belly. 

Caelan was paddling slowly to where Thor was munching on a pop tart. The God of Thunder looked down. 'Hello, little one.' He held out a hand and Caelan gripped on with his arms as Thor hauled him up and steadied him with the other arm under hid legs. 

'God I hate it when you do that.' You chastised, chopping up some fruit for the twins. Strawberry for Caelan, kiwi for Percy. 'Always scares the life out of me.'

'I swear these boys get cuter every day.' Natasha said fondly, setting Percy down into his double highchair with another seat next to him for Caelan. Thor set the other twin down gently and you started hand feeding them.

'Y/n! You promised you'd help!' Tony whined, setting a mug of tea down beside you.

'I can multitask, Stark, unlike some people.' You huffed. 'Why is this such a big deal? We normally just sit around drinking and playing games depending on the person whose birthday it is.' Tony had been monopoly and ended up flipping the board when he went bankrupt, Bruce had been Mastermind and slaughtered all of them, Bucky had been Risk and you and Nat had ended up forming an alliance, Nat had been Codenames and you were fairly sure grudges were created then.

Vision had wanted to play eye spy, as he'd never played it before, but it got increasingly funnier as the alcohol in the bottles got lower and lower. Thor had been Pictionary and Charades, but it was just funny watching Thor try and reenact Jane Eyre while tipsy.

For Wanda it was Cluedo and it was no surprise that Bucky and Natasha were extremely competitive when it came to that game.

'Yeah.' Tony grumbled. 'But I wanna ask him out and it'll be easier to ask if everyone's mingling rather than laughing at Nick Fury topless.' Ah yes, Nick Fury's game had been strip poker and you were certain you were never getting that innocence back. 

'Tony, you managed to cobble together a going-away party five minutes before you told everyone it started. What do you want from me?' You asked.

'Keep Steve distracted.' Tony pleaded.

'Alright.' You sighed. 

Steve wandered in, looking like a fresh daisy and all happy and cheerful, ready to start the day while you stood there in your pajamas that had a dubious stain on the crotch with your hair a birds' nest. 'Morning.' He greeted happily.

'Steve, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and Bucky for a day out?' You offered.

'Oh, that sounds great.' He smiled. 'When did you wanna go?'

'When i've sorted my hair out and dragged Bucky out of bed.' You said, standing up. 'Could someone take over?'

'Of course. It would be an honour.' Thor said and sat down in your seat.

You grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. Just walking into your rooms with the mug of coffee in hand roused Bucky more than a yelling, panicking Tony did. 'I don't want to do training.' Bucky grumbled, sipping his coffee.

'It's alright, you're not.' You assured. Bucky frowned. 'Wait, let me call Fury.'

'What?' Fury snapped.

'Bucky isn't coming to mission training.' 

'Why?'

'We have to distract Steve for his party.' 

Fury was silent for quite a while. 'Cards or whiskey?'

'Bring both, just in case.' Fury hung up and Bucky was still squinting at you in confusion.

'Why are we having a party for Steve?'

'It's his birthday.' You shrugged. 'You're his best friend, shouldn't you know this?'

'His birthday's in November.' Bucky said, frowning. 'Twenty-first of November.'

'Well, either way, we have to distract Steve for the day.' You said, pulling on some jeans. 'I've got my cousin Steve and his friend looking after the twins for a couple of days, we just have to drop them off. Maybe we can spice things up tonight?' 

Bucky groaned. 'Don't start things ya can't finish until hours later, doll.' 

You smirked and kissed him on the lips. 'It'll make it all the worth-while.' 

 

Both your and Bucky's eyes widened at the mess of the kitche. You'd only been gone for fifteen minutes and you came back to chaos. Percy was having a temper tantrum in his highchair, Tony was trying to wash Caelan off in the sink but failing and Thor was complaining about a strawberry he'd gotten to the eye. 

'What did you do?' Bucky asked incredulously, picking Percy out of the highchair and calming him down. 

'I tried to feed them, but they protested most violently!' Thor huffed, still dabbing a cloth at his eye. 

'Is it safe to come out yet?' Natasha's muffled voice came from the cereal cupboard. You opened it to see the ex-assassin curled up there, clutching some wheatabix. 

'Thor, did you feed Percy strawberries or kiwis?' You asked.

'Ah, strawberries I believe.' 

You groaned. 'Oh god, no wonder this whole place is chaos. They're very picky about their foods.' 

 

'Do you think this was a good idea?' You asked Bucky.

'Dunno. We'll have to wait and find out.'

'How long do you think it'll keep him occupied?'

'If we don't drag him away, fair few hours maybe?'

'Tony's going to text me when we can bring him back.' You said. 'You know, Wanda was asking me about whether we'd consider a donation.'

Bucky frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'So because Vision can't actually... make... it's a bit hard for them to have a child. They were considering adoption, but they don't think social services will take it well if one of them is a highly advanced android and the other is an ex-hydra.' You sighed. 

'They wanted to use my...?'

'Well, she asked the group in general.' You assured. 'So like Sam, Thor, Tony, Steve etc.'

'What do you think?' Bucky asked.

'It's your choice, I suppose.' You shrugged. 

'Hey guys!' Steve called from where he was laying on his back. 'This is awesome!'

Bucky chuckled and obviously expected you to, but when you didn't, he looked at you closely. 'Something wrong, doll?'

'Wanda is a really good friend, but I don't... forget it, i'm just being selfish.'

'Doll, you're allowed to be selfish. Especially after all you've given to the group.' Bucky tightened his arm around your shoulder. 'I don't think i'd be a very good candidate for some DNA.' He mused. 'We don't need another Percy running around.'

 

'SURPRISE!' Everyone yelled, making Steve jump about a foot into the air. 

'What is this?' He asked, looking at all the red white and blue streamers and decorations. 

'It's your birthday party.' Bruce said.

'Wow, I mean, y/n's birthday is even before mine.' Steve said.

Everyone else shuffled nervously. 'Surprise?' Some people murmured. 

'Anyway, let's break out the whiskey.' Tony said, dragging Steve over to mingle. 

 

'Did you put this together?' Steve asked as Tony directed him to the drinks bar.

'Yeah, kinda.' Tony scratched the back of his neck. 

'Thank you, I don't think anyone's done anything like this for me before. Except Bucky, but we were both really poor at the time and he stuck a candle in a loaf of bread.' Steve grinned at the memory. 

'So, er, I was wondering if you'd like to... Well, I've got these two tickets to the red sox vs yankees and I wondered if...?' He held them out awkwardly.

'Oh, yeah, thank you Tony! Sam's going to be so jealous.' Steve grinned. 'And this'll be a way to pay him back for the strip poker incident.' He moved forward, playing his ahnds on Tony's shoulders as if he was about to lean in for a kiss, but then it quickly turned into a bro hug.

Tony sighed and slumped down on a sofa once Steve left. 

 

Five hours later, he was still there plowing his way through a bottle of Jack. You were sat next to him, an arm wrapped firmly around his shoulders. 'What do we say next time?' You asked.

'Extra ticket.' Tony huffed. 'I have an _extra_ ticket.'

 

21st November the year previously:

'Steve?' Bucky said and most of the avengers curiously paid attention.

'Yeah Buck?' Steve looked up from his newspaper.

'Here-' Bucky hadn't even gotten the card to Steve when he was rugby tackled and wrestled into one of the spare rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm considering doing a bit of an update on my slightly more dusty fics. If there are any that you'd really quite like to see another chapter of, just chivvy my ass a bit and i'll get there eventually :-)

**Author's Note:**

> All gifs/images are from the internet and do not belong to me.  
> Any suggestions for others like this are welcome.


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